China has issued its first 2025 quotas for rare-earth mining and smelting without the customary public announcement, according to an exclusive Reuters report citing people familiar with the decision. Companies that received the allocations were instructed not to disclose the figures, underscoring Beijing’s heightened sensitivity about the strategic minerals. The rare-earth quota system, in place since 2006, is a key gauge of global supply for the 17 elements critical to electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics and defence equipment. Last year Beijing trimmed industry access, limiting eligibility to two state-owned groups—China Rare Earth Group and China Northern Rare Earth Group High-Tech—and slowed annual mining quota growth to 5.9%. The quiet release follows months of delay and comes amid widening trade tensions. China recently added several rare-earth elements and related magnets to its export-restriction list in response to higher U.S. tariffs, disrupting automakers outside the country. In 2024 the government set mining quotas at 270,000 metric tons and smelting and separation quotas at 254,000 tons; volumes for 2025 have not been made public.