Seven Statistics Illustrating China’s Dominance of Critical Minerals

Article Highlights:

• China’s dominance over the two essential steps that go into the production of critical minerals and REEs—mining and refining, or processing—has loomed large this year. Key U.S. sectors like automotive, defense, and technology are feeling the pressure of China’s control over mineral supply chains. 
• China’s preeminence in the production of REEs has been well-established. While the country’s 70% control of the global mining of rare earth elements is impressive but not necessarily overwhelming, it’s China’s control of the refining processes where it makes itself an invaluable node in the supply chain. 
• In 2013, the Chinese Community Party (CCP) launched its Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project that involved collaborating with well over 100 nations, businesses, and international organizations. One key theme of the Belt and Road Initiative has been China’s investment in international mining operations on five different continents, including Africa, where China has its tentacles deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt mines.
• Supply chain risk management (SCRM) platform Z2Data helps companies see multiple tiers deep into their supply chain, a level of visibility critical to responding to the current trade landscape and identifying risky raw material dependencies.

Ever since China began imposing export restrictions on critical minerals in the final months of 2023—including gallium, germanium, and graphite—the nation’s leverage over the critical minerals industry has become a major variable in global supply chains. After the Trump administration announced stringent tariffs on China this past April, China responded by placing export restrictions on rare earth elements (REEs), a group of 17 elements over which the country has disproportionate mining and processing control. Since then, China’s dominance over the two essential steps that go into the production of critical minerals and REEs—mining and refining, or processing—has loomed even larger. 

Key U.S. sectors like automotive, defense, and technology are now feeling the pressure of China’s dominance over critical minerals. If it sees any advantage in doing so, China could abruptly and unilaterally implement export controls, bans, or other measures for throttling the supply of critical minerals and REEs. U.S. businesses and other non-Chinese firms would bear the brunt of these actions, as factories are forced to temporarily shutter, manufacturing continuity is disrupted, and revenues are jeopardized.

Here, we share five figures that cogently illustrate China’s stranglehold on global critical mineral production. In addition, we’ll also examine two numbers that speak to the modest but meaningful steps countries are now taking to achieve independence from China. 

1. 70% and 90%: China’s Percentage of Global Mining and Refining of Rare Earth Elements

China’s preeminence in the production of REEs has been well-established. While the country’s 70% control of the global mining of rare earth elements is impressive but not necessarily overwhelming, it’s China’s control of the refining processes where it makes itself an invaluable node in the supply chain. 

China has been working tirelessly to advance its capabilities in the REE refining process for decades. From 1950 to 2018, the country filed 25,000 patents for rare earths, nearly tripling the 10,000 filed within the U.S. The result has been a steady upward trajectory that’s led us to the current era, in which China can leverage its refining supremacy in geopolitical conflicts, trade wars, and other forms of asymmetrical economic warfare.

2. 80%: China’s Share of Global Silicon Production in 2024

In 2012, China was responsible for producing approximately 30% of the world’s silicon. In the span of 13 years, that figure has leapt to 80%, with the nation now producing four-fifths of the global supply of the raw material. The rapid expansion of China’s silicon production capacity stems from a number of interrelated factors that helped propel the industry over the past decade-plus. 

The rapid expansion of China’s silicon production capacity stems from a number of interrelated factors that helped propel the industry over the past decade-plus. 

China has the world’s largest reserves of silicon metalloids—including quartzite and related silica materials—giving it a natural advantage when it comes to the mining process. In addition, silicon production firms have benefited from extensive financial support from the federal government, which has provided producers with generous subsidies for scaling up their operations. Those federal incentives are supplemented by additional benefits at the local level, where provinces often provide discounted land and energy costs to stimulate investment. 

3. 60% and 90%: China’s Control of Germanium and Gallium 

Germanium and gallium are two raw materials that are representative of the level of control China has built up over rare earth elements. Germanium is used for solar cells, fiber optics, and other high-tech applications, while gallium is an integral material in the production of semiconductors, integrated circuits, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The U.S. is completely dependent on imports for both of these REEs, with China serving as one of America’s largest suppliers. 

Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey warned that Chinese restrictions on gallium and germanium could have a major adverse impact on U.S. industry. Using a statistical model, USGS researchers found that a total ban on the two REEs could result in the U.S. economy shedding up to $3.4 billion from its GDP. Affected industries included semiconductor manufacturing, printed circuit board assembly, and electronic equipment manufacturing. 

4. $1 Trillion: Number China Has Invested in the Belt and Road Initiative Since 2013 

In 2013, the Chinese Community Party (CCP) launched its Belt and Road Initiative, a wildly ambitious project that involved collaborating with well over 100 nations, businesses, and international organizations to establish a sprawling network of physical and digital infrastructure. The objective was to open up corridors between China and countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, strengthening commercial and diplomatic relationships.

One key theme to emerge from the first 12 years of the Belt and Road Initiative has been China’s investment in international mining companies. State-backed Chinese companies now have ownership stakes in mining operations on five different continents, including Africa, where China has its tentacles deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt mines. All told, China has invested as much as $1 trillion dollars in the hundreds of projects that make up Belt and Road—one factor among many that has helped it tighten its grip over critical minerals. 

5. $7 Billion: How Much Chinese Construction Companies Recently Agreed to Invest in DRC Mining Projects

In January 2024, a raft of Chinese construction companies announced that they would be investing up to $7 billion in new projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the African nation in which China already has an outsized presence. The projects are part of a planned expansion of the Sicomines copper and cobalt mines, a joint venture between China and the DRC. The two nations originally struck an agreement in which China would spend $3 billion building roads and hospitals in the DRC, in exchange for a 68% ownership stake in Congo's state mining company, Gecamines, which eventually became Sicomines. 

China’s presence in the DRC—along with investments like these—are examples of the country’s efforts to expand its influence in developing nations with valuable natural resources. Now, in 2025, such relationship-building is a large part of why China has amassed such a high degree of control over raw materials like cobalt, copper, and myriad other minerals.

6. 13: Raw Materials Projects the EU Announced In June to Promote Independence From China

In June, the European Union made public 13 new projects they are initiating centered around the mining and processing of raw materials, including both critical minerals and REEs. European Commissioner for industry Stephane Sejourne declared that the EU “must reduce our dependencies on all countries, particularly on a number of countries like China.” 

As it did for the U.S., China’s implementation of export restrictions on REEs in April served as a powerful catalyst for the EU to more aggressively pursue alternative avenues to raw material production. The new projects include operations in Ukraine, Greenland, Kazakhstan, and Zambia, and aim to expand access to cobalt, graphite, tungsten, and other materials.  

As it did for the U.S., China’s implementation of export restrictions on REEs in April served as a powerful catalyst for the EU to more aggressively pursue alternative avenues to raw material production.

7. $1 Billion+: Value of Deal Announced in July Between the U.S. and MP Materials

As with the EU, the U.S. interpreted China’s 2025 export curbs as a wake up call to start pursuing critical mineral supply chains that could operate independent of China. One of America’s first major steps in that direction was to reach a multibillion-dollar agreement with MP Materials, the Las Vegas-based mining company that owns and operates Mountain Pass mine, the only rare earth mining and processing facility in the U.S. 

While specifics of the deal’s financials have not been made public, the agreement will make the Department of Defense (DoD) the single-largest shareholder in MP Materials. If the U.S. is determined to revive domestic REE production, the Mountain Pass mine is the obvious place to start. The open-pit mine was the world’s leading producer of REEs for decades beginning in the 1960s, until it was overtaken by China around the turn of the century. Ryan Castilloux, managing director of consultancy Adamas Intelligence, told Reuters at the time of the deal that the public-private partnership was a “game changer for the ex-China industry and a much-needed surge in magnet production capacity.”

Z2Data’s Multi-Tier Visibility Reveals Raw Material Dependencies

China’s recent strategic measures to limit access to REEs are putting real pressure on major U.S. original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Ford, who announced in June that the restrictions had forced it to temporarily shut down one of its plants. In an era in which access to critical minerals, REEs, and other resources is subject to geopolitical tensions and trade wars, firms with visibility and optionality are going to possess a critical advantage. 

Supply chain risk management (SCRM) platform Z2Data helps companies see multiple tiers deep into their supply chain, all the way to raw materials providers. This level of visibility is critical to responding to the current trade landscape, giving companies the intelligence and insights to identify risky dependencies and devise effective mitigation measures. Using Z2Data’s supply chain data, businesses can implement a number of different risk management strategies:

• Stockpiling the most essential minerals and REEs.
• Recycling raw materials.
• Redesigning products and parts to reduce dependence on critical minerals and REEs sensitive to Chinese restrictions.
• Developing alternative supply chains with more stable suppliers.

Regardless of the strategy a business chooses to focus on, Z2Data can provide the data and risk assessments to ensure that it is an informed, data-based decision. To learn more about Z2Data and how its multi-tier mapping and materials analysis can help companies mitigate the risks of critical mineral and REE dependencies, schedule a free trial with one of our product experts.