China’s Ministry of Commerce announced today that it is strengthening export controls on dual-use items to Japan, effective immediately, to safeguard national security and interests. The ministry has prohibited the export of all dual-use items to Japanese military users, military purposes, and any other end-users or uses that could enhance Japan’s military capabilities. Additionally, the ban extends to any country or region from transferring relevant dual-use items to Japan.
This escalatory move by China threatens to comprehensively impact Japan’s economy and trade. China’s 2026 catalog of dual-use items and technologies subject to export authorization management lists as many as 1,005 items under export control, covering rare earth elements, chemicals, drones, telecommunications equipment, alloys, nuclear energy materials, equipment, and technologies.
The announcement, published on the Ministry of Commerce website on the afternoon of January 6, marks the ministry’s first official bulletin of 2026. According to China’s Export Control Law and related regulations, the decision aims to safeguard national security and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations.
The ministry warned that any organization or individual from any country or region that violates these regulations by transferring or providing China-origin dual-use items to Japanese entities or individuals will face legal consequences. Under China’s dual-use items export control regulations, these items refer to goods, technologies, and services with both civilian and military applications that could potentially enhance military capabilities, particularly those usable in designing, developing, producing, or utilizing weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
The 2026 catalog released last year by the Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs covers 846 items including chemicals capable of producing drugs and chemical weapons, processing materials, electronics, rare earths, computers, telecommunications, sensors, lasers, navigation systems, aerospace components, and microbial agents. An additional 159 items relate to nuclear materials and reactor technologies.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 6, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202601060265.aspx