Overview
Since signing a de-escalation agreement with the United States in Busan, South Korea, China has used the breathing space provided by that truce to bolster a suite of economic measures aimed at strengthening its leverage in future disputes. The pact between the two leaders was concluded in October and remains in effect until an expiration date in November 2026. In the months that followed, Chinese authorities rolled out a succession of regulatory and trade actions touching supply chains, critical technologies, legal countermeasures and export restrictions.
Chronology of measures announced since the Busan agreement
April 15, 2026 - Chinese officials conducted initial talks with suppliers of equipment used to make solar panels as part of consideration to limit exports of the most advanced technology to the United States. China is estimated to produce more than 80% of the world’s solar panel components.
April 13, 2026 - The State Council issued new regulations authorising countermeasures against foreign states for "unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction." State media Xinhua reported the decree could be applied to countries that impose secondary sanctions or to the extraterritorial spillover of export controls resulting from enforcement of rules such as de minimis thresholds.
April 7, 2026 - New State Council regulations on industrial and supply chain security were announced, granting authorities powers to investigate and act against foreign countries, companies or international organisations that "adopt discriminatory measures" which undermine China’s industrial and supply chains.
February 24, 2026 - In an escalation of a dispute with Tokyo, China’s commerce ministry barred exports of dual-use items to 20 Japanese entities it says supply Japan’s military. The list includes vital rare earths used in cars, consumer electronics and weapons.
January 14, 2026 - Chinese authorities instructed domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software from more than a dozen firms based in the United States and Israel on national security grounds.
January 9, 2026 - Beijing began restricting exports of "heavy" rare earths and powerful magnets containing them to Japanese companies.
December 30, 2025 - Rules came into effect requiring chipmakers to use at least 50% domestically made equipment when adding new capacity, as part of efforts to build a more self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain.
November 8, 2025 - China’s export controls on certain high-end lithium-ion batteries, cathodes and graphite anode materials, as well as related technological know-how, took effect.
November 5, 2025 - Guidance was issued requiring new data centre projects that have received any state funds to use only domestically made artificial intelligence chips.
October 30, 2025 - Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Busan and signed the de-escalation agreement. Under the accord, Trump agreed with Xi to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.
October 9, 2025 - Ahead of the Busan meeting, China expanded rare earths export controls, adding five elements - holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium - and increased scrutiny for semiconductors. The country also added dozens of pieces of refining technology to its control list and announced rules that will require compliance from foreign rare earth producers who use Chinese materials.
Interpretation of developments
The sequence of directives and restrictions illustrates a multi-pronged approach by Beijing: strengthening domestic content rules in strategic industries, applying export controls on materials and technologies, and creating legal mechanisms to counteract foreign measures that have extraterritorial effects. The measures touch a range of sectors explicitly named in the announcements, including solar panel manufacturing, rare earths and magnets, batteries and battery materials, semiconductors and AI chips, data centre projects, and cybersecurity software.
Context moving forward
These steps were implemented while the trade truce remains in effect and ahead of a scheduled summit between the two countries next month. The truce itself is time-limited with an expiration in November 2026. The actions recorded here have been introduced across late 2025 and the first months of 2026 and reflect the Chinese authorities' stated intent to shore up industrial security and to create legal and trade instruments that could be deployed in response to adverse foreign measures.