The Rare Earth Leverage? China's Export Control Law and "Xi Jinping's Thought on Law-Based Governance

Since 2023, China has introduced a series of export restrictions on rare earth elements and other critical materials, citing national security concerns amid escalating geopolitical tensions and technological rivalry. While these measures have raised alarm over China’s strategic leverage in global supply chains, this article argues that their significance lies not merely in their economic impact but also in their legal form. Far from ad hoc economic retaliation, these restrictions reflect a broader effort to embed strategic statecraft within formal legal architecture. Anchored in the 2020 Export Control Law, China’s actions exemplify a broader turn toward law-based governance under Xi Jinping. In Xi’s conception, the law is not a constraint on state power but a political instrument of its consolidation and direction. By situating China’s export control regime within the ideological and institutional logic of “Xi Jinping Thought on Law-Based Governance,” the article examines its structural innovations, operational limitations, and strategic functions. It argues that China’s legalization of export controls is best understood as a strategic exercise aimed at enhancing central control, disciplining bureaucratic administration, projecting political legitimacy both at home and abroad, thereby translating governance objectives into a legalized framework that advances Party-state authority through the techniques and symbolism of the law.