China's Assertion as a Metallurgical Power [2025]

 

In July 2023 and again in August 2024, China announced restrictions on the export of germanium, gallium, and then antimony to Western countries. This decision, which was not the first of its kind by the Middle Kingdom, nevertheless takes on added significance in a tense global context with the United States. The decision also recognizes the industrial and logistical maturity of a country that knows it is robust enough to oppose Western interests.

Three critical materials for Western industrial activity :

Germanium (Ge, number 32), gallium (Ga, number 31), antimony (Sb, number 51): these materials with such singular names have hardly made the news in recent months. This is all the more damaging given their essential role in the ecological and digital transitions that Western societies have imposed on themselves, as well as in the development of contemporary civil and military technologies. Because these materials play crucial roles in several sectors due to their unique properties.

This metal (gallium) and these metalloids [1] (germanium and antimony) have qualities that make them almost indispensable in our daily civilian and military lives. Here are some examples to better illustrate their importance:

Gallium :

• Semiconductors: Gallium is primarily used in semiconductors, notably in gallium arsenide ( GaAs ). This compound is preferred over silicon for some electronic applications because it offers better high-frequency performance, which is essential for telecommunications, satellites, and microwave generation.
• LED: Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) often use gallium substrates for their energy efficiency and brightness.
• Photovoltaics: Gallium is also used in some high-efficiency solar cells.

Germanium :

• Optoelectronics: Germanium is used in optical fibers and optoelectronic devices because of its high refractive index and transparency in infrared light.
• Semiconductors: Before silicon became dominant, germanium was widely used in transistors. It is still used in specialized applications where its unique electrical properties are required.
• Infrared: Infrared detectors, such as those used in thermal imaging cameras, benefit from the properties of germanium.

Antimony :

• Alloys: Antimony is used to produce alloys with lead and tin. For example, lead-antimony alloy is used in starter batteries for vehicles.
• Flame retardant: It is also used as a flame retardant in plastics and textiles, increasing their resistance to fire.
• Electronics: Antimony is a key component in some types of semiconductors and in the manufacture of diodes and solar cells.

Given these examples, it's clear that these three elements are vital in the fields of electronics, renewable energy, and advanced materials. Especially since their demand is growing with the advancement of technologies such as 5G, electric vehicles, and photovoltaic solar systems.

China's New Value Chain Control Strategy :

In the new great game of world powers for the control and exploitation of mineral resources, China's decision to initiate an embargo on the export of these three raw materials is not insignificant because it reflects a very good knowledge of their role but above all, it confirms the maturity of the State breaking with the strategy of the twenty-four characters of the former leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) [2].

Moreover, this risk does not only concern raw materials but also technologies related to their processing, and particularly concerning rare earths where the Chinese authorities have banned the export of chemical processes and technologies for their separation and refining. When we know that China represents 89% of the export of these, we understand all the more easily the crucial role of such a political-commercial decision. For the moment, rare earths themselves are not affected by an embargo or export restriction but the threat, temporary or permanent, is possible. If it were to be activated, then it would be a very hard blow for the manufacture of electric motors, wind turbines and certain military detection systems (radar and sonar).

What is important to understand is that these decisions are not the result of erratic mood swings but are the result of a strategy of geoeconomic assertion and the protection of critical resources and recognized expertise.

When Donald J. Trump (1946) insisted on "twisting the arm" of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to sign a trade agreement on the mineral resources of his country's subsoil (with an emphasis on rare earths in passing), it is not out of unreason but out of an increased need for the United States to have substantial reserves of raw materials whose use has increased considerably since the 20th century, going so far as to concern the entire periodic table of elements (118 to date) due to the extension and complexity of civil and military technologies.

China, which has made the electric vehicle its technological and commercial battle horse [3], is an excellent demonstrator of its mastery of the entire value chain, from raw materials to the finished product, and even to the provision of related services. As evidence of this geoeconomic shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the United States has now more openly defended a protectionist policy since the first term of Donald J. Trump , while China has become the herald of free trade, with the main issue being control over mineral resources and their supply lines [4].

In a context where contemporary global domination is carried out at the intersection of energy, metallurgical and algorithmic power, the trade war for mineral resources and diplomatic influence games are in full swing.



[1] Metalloids are similar to metals but with specific properties in the fields of electrical and thermal conduction, the chemical structure of which gives them reactions appreciated in the field of chemistry and electronics.

[2] The translation of these would be summarized as follows in French: “ Observe calmly, stabilize your position, respond with composure, conceal your ambitions, feign humility, never seek to dominate.”

[3] Y. Harrel , Electromobility: from mines to batteries , Nuvis , 2025.

[4] The Panama Canal crisis in January/February 2025 aims at a challenge by the American executive of the Torrijos -Carter treaties of 1977 guaranteeing freedom of transit. However, the Panama Canal has entered into the Chinese strategy known as the New Silk Road aimed at guaranteeing land and sea crossing points for its convoys and fleets.