China extends pause on new rare earth export controls until January 10

China has extended its suspension of new export controls on certain rare earths by two months. The move keeps in place part of a wide-ranging trade deal reached after a summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, CNA and The Straits Times reported on Monday.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a short statement on November 9 that the pause would now run until January 10. The waivers had been due to expire this month. The Straits Times, which carried a Reuters report, gave the new end date as January 10, 2027. Both outlets said the ministry gave no other details.

The controls go back to April 2025, when Beijing first restricted exports of certain rare earths. In October that year it expanded the measures, sharply widening their scope. It also added new controls on some diamonds with industrial applications and on lithium battery technology.

Those measures were paused for one year in November 2025, after Xi and Trump met at a summit in South Korea. That suspension was the one set to lapse this month.

According to both reports, Monday's extension is one part of a broader suspension of trade countermeasures and tariffs that China announced on the same day. Beijing is negotiating with Washington over what the outlets described as an enduring trade deal. Neither report set out which tariffs or countermeasures the wider suspension covers, or whether any of them carry the same January deadline.

The two-month window is shorter than the one-year pause agreed last November. Neither outlet reported any explanation from Beijing for the shorter period.

Trump is set to travel to Shenzhen in southern China later in November for the APEC leaders summit. CNA and The Straits Times reported that he is expected to meet Xi there.

Sources: CNA, China extends suspension of new rare earth controls until January; The Straits Times, China extends suspension of new rare earth controls until January.