Australia prepares to compete with China with new rare earth refineries

China is preparing for what it has termed an "Economic D-Day" in the wake of the US-Iran war, as announced by Beijing on Sunday. The announcement came just a day before the Trump administration was expected to unveil "the toughest sanctions in history" against Tehran. This move by China aims to insulate itself economically and reduce its dependence on Iranian oil, which has already seen a nearly 50% reduction since the war began, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Experts, including Zhao Long from the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, suggest that China's resilience could complicate Washington's strategy, as it adeptly contains potential spillover effects, reduces risks, diversifies dependencies, and avoids strategic entanglement.

Brief written by urgent.news from Semafor's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.