China's Export Control Law, 2020 and the Dual-Use Items Framework

China's Export Control Law (ECL) is the country's main law for deciding which goods, technologies and services can leave China, and on what conditions. It covers military items, nuclear items and dual-use items, which are things with both civilian and military uses. Under this law, the Chinese government can require a licence for such exports, refuse it, or ban exports to particular buyers. In simple words, it gives China a single legal "tap" it can open or tighten on goods the world depends on.

Why does it exist?

Every major economy controls exports of sensitive items, so that weapons-related technology does not reach the wrong hands. China's stated reasons are national security, non-proliferation (stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction) and meeting its international duties. A second reason is reciprocity. After the United States put Chinese firms like Huawei on its export blacklist from 2019 onwards, China wanted legal tools to answer in kind. The ECL gave it that tool.

Where did it come from?

Before 2020, China's export rules were scattered across the Foreign Trade Law, the Customs Law, the Criminal Law and several separate regulations (for example, older regulations on dual-use items, nuclear items and missiles). These were combined and strengthened:

• 17 October 2020: the Export Control Law was adopted at the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (China's top law-making body). It has 49 articles.
• 1 December 2020: the law came into force.
• 1 December 2024: the State Council's Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items (50 articles, six chapters) came into force. They replaced older, two-decade-old rules and created a single, unified dual-use items control list.

How does it work?

The process is like a gate with a guard:

1. The list: MOFCOM (for dual-use items) publishes a control list of items, each with a control code.
2. The licence: An exporter of a listed item must apply to MOFCOM, naming the buyer (end-user) and what the item will be used for (end-use). Buyers often must give an end-user certificate promising not to misuse or re-sell it.
3. The review: MOFCOM checks national security, the buyer and the destination, and approves or refuses.
4. Customs check: At the border, customs officers check the declared code. If they suspect a controlled item, they can hold the shipment until it is verified.

The law also allows temporary controls (for up to two years) [Unverified] on items not yet on the list, a controlled-parties list of foreign buyers who may be blocked, and penalties for violators. It claims extraterritorial reach, meaning it can apply to people outside China whose actions harm China's security.

How has China used it?

Since 2023, China has used the framework on goods where it dominates world supply:

• August 2023: controls on gallium and germanium (metals used in chips and solar cells).
• December 2023: controls on certain graphite items (used in electric vehicle batteries). [Unverified]
• December 2024: a ban on exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials to the United States.
• 4 April 2025: seven medium and heavy rare earth elements (samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium) added to the dual-use list (MOFCOM Announcement No. 18). India's automobile industry faced shortages of rare earth magnets after this.
• 9 October 2025: a wider package, including a "0.1% rule" letting China control foreign-made products containing even small amounts of Chinese rare earths. After a meeting between the US and Chinese leaders, China suspended these October 2025 measures for one year.
• October 2026: licences for tunnel boring machines, walking excavators, plateau wet shotcrete machines and large dredger parts, effective 18 November 2026.

Other tools in the same toolkit

The ECL works alongside the Unreliable Entity List (rules issued by MOFCOM on 19 September 2020, letting China restrict foreign firms that harm its interests) and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (adopted 10 June 2021, letting China act against people who carry out foreign sanctions on China).

India's position

India also has its own export control system, so the idea itself is not unusual. India controls sensitive exports through the SCOMET list (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies) under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.

The difference India points to is how controls are used. India's concern is that China's controls on rare earths, fertilisers and machinery hit ordinary civilian projects in India. In August 2025, during high-level talks, China said it would address India's needs for rare earths, fertilisers and tunnel boring machines.

Commonly confused concepts

• Export control vs export ban: An export control needs a licence; goods can still move if the licence is given. An export ban stops the goods completely.
• Export control vs sanctions: Export controls are about what is sold (sensitive items). Sanctions usually target who you deal with (a country, firm or person), and can cover all trade, money and travel.
• Export control vs tariff: A tariff is a tax that makes goods costlier but still lets them move freely. An export control is a permission system.
• China's ECL vs the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR): Both are national laws with lists, licences and extraterritorial rules (the US has the "Entity List" and the "foreign direct product rule"). China's 0.1% rare earth rule in 2025 was widely seen as China's version of these US tools.
• National export controls vs multilateral regimes: The ECL is a Chinese law. Groups like the Wassenaar Arrangement are voluntary clubs where many countries agree common lists. China is not a member of Wassenaar.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Weaponisation of trade: Critics argue that labelling civilian machines like TBMs as "dual-use" lets China use supply chains as political pressure, a practice often called economic coercion.
• Uncertainty for buyers: Licence decisions can be slow and are not fully transparent. Projects may be delayed even when licences are finally granted.
• China's view: China says it follows international practice, approves compliant applications and is open to dialogue on export control policies.
• Way forward for India: Experts suggest diversifying suppliers (Europe, Japan, the US, South Korea), building domestic manufacturing of critical equipment, keeping strategic stocks, and working with partners through groups like the Quad and the Minerals Security Partnership on resilient supply chains.

Concepts to Know

• Dual-use item: A good, software or technology with normal civilian uses that could also help make weapons or serve the military. For example, a tunnel machine can dig a metro or a military bunker.
• End-use and end-user: End-use is what the item will finally be used for. End-user is the person or company that will finally use it.
• Extraterritorial reach: When a country's law claims to apply to actions that happen outside its borders.
• Rare earth elements: A group of 17 metals used in powerful magnets, electronics and defence equipment. China controls most of the world's refining capacity.
• MOFCOM: China's Ministry of Commerce, which handles trade policy and issues dual-use export licences.