China and the US, another reason for upset

China protests the US plans to extract rare metals from the bottom of the oceans.

No country should bypass international laws by authorizing the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources on the bottom of the sea, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, following a US report to extract rare metals from the depths of the oceans to counteract China’s domination in this field and the new Chinese restrictions to the US export imposed by Beijing.

According to international law, the bottom of the sea and its resources ‘are the common legacy of humanity’, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted after a report of the Financial Times. « The exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the international maritime area must be carried out in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the sea and within the International Authority for the Foss of the Sea and Oceans, » the Chinese Ministry added.

The administration of US President Donald Trump elaborates an executive order to allow the metals to be extracted from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, as a solution to secure the US supply with the necessary sectors of high technologies, such as the defense industry, the production of smartphones, batteries for electric vehicles or semi-document.

By exploiting and storing these resources the United States would ensure such a reserve to be able to use access to imports from China, a country that produces about 90% of rare refined metals worldwide. These metals, gathered in a group of 17 elements, are not as rare as their name suggests, but their extraction and refining are achieved by complex processes and which require major investments, also having environmental implications.

The US imports much of its need for rare metals, especially from China. But the Beijing government has set export restrictions for some of these elements, as reprisals for the customs duties imposed by US President Donald Trump on imports from China.

In other news, Chinese President XI Jinping and leader Vietnamez to Lam, the Secretary General of the Communist Party, committed to Monday to strengthen the economic relations between their countries in the context of a commercial war with the United States, the DPA reports.

XI arrived at Hanoi on Monday for a two -day visit, being greeted with a solemn ceremony and greeted with 21 cannon salva.

The Chinese president had discussions with the Vietnamese leader, along with whom he witnessed the signing of 40 agreements in the commercial and economic fields, among others.

On Tuesday, XI is expected at the launch ceremony of a new $ 8 billion railway supported by China, for a 390 km railway between the Haiphong Port and the Montan City of Lao Caake, which is adjacent to the Chinese province of Yunnan.

The railway line is part of the Chinese ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy.

In an article published Monday in the daily Nhan Dan, the press body of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Xi Jinping criticized the commercial war taken by US President Donald Trump, saying that ‘a commercial war and a tariff war will have no winner, and protectionism will not lead anywhere.’

He also urged Vietnam to decide the multilateral commercial system, the stability of industrial and world supply chains, as well as an open and cooperative international environment ‘.

XI also stated that Vietnam is a priority in China’s neighborhood policy, and urged the neighboring country to pursue an ‘economic collaboration from which both to win, promoting the progress of socialism in both countries’.

This is Xi’s fourth visit to Vietnam since he became president in 2013.

China is the largest commercial partner of Vietnam for over two decades, bilateral exchanges exceeding $ 205 billion in 2024.

Vietnamese party chief tô hosted an official Welcome ceremony for chinese party & president XI Jinping in Hài nội on Monday afternoon, with the Highest Protocol Resserved for a Head of State.

VNA/Vns Photos pic.twitter.com/yhqd1snbb

– Việt Nam News (@Vietnamnewsvns) April 14, 2025