He did not mention the trade war directly, and Mr. Xi has used the term “the new Long March” in speeches before to exhort officials, military officials or ordinary citizens to follow his policies. But the visit, broadcast on state-run television on Tuesday, came as tensions flare between the world’s two biggest economies. Among the officials with Mr. Xi was Liu He, his chief economic adviser and top trade negotiator. Rare earths are found in many of the electronics that the world uses every day, and China is the largest source. China has used its control of rare earths to exert pressure before, most notably in 2010 when it halted all exports to Japan for two months over a territorial dispute.

Source: New York Times May 22, 2019 03:14 UTC