China denied reports it has banned the export of rare earths to Japan, which is the biggest buyer of the minerals used in a wide range of high-technology products.
The New York Times earlier reported that the ban was imposed amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over Japan’s arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain in disputed waters.
“China does not have a trade embargo on rare earth exports to Japan,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economics Co- operation spokesman Chen Rongkai said in a telephone interview today.