Britain’s ambitions for AI, advanced chips, and clean energy rest on mineral supply chains dominated by China, and MPs say they cannot establish whether ministers have a credible plan to reduce that dependence. The House of Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee has set ministers ten tests for securing critical minerals. Its verdict is hardly glowing – it cannot be confident the government passes any of them. The tests cover whether ministers know which industries and technologies need protecting, what minerals they require, where supplies could be disrupted, and how domestic production, overseas partnerships, skills, and financing will close the gaps. In a report published today , the committee warns that diversifying supplies will take ten to 15 years, and will require sustained investment and cooperation with allies. Completely cutting China out is neither realistic nor desirable, it says. Leaving Beijing with so much leverage is another matter. Critical minerals underpin everything from batteries and semiconductors to datacenters and military equipment. The designation reflects their economic or security importance and vulnerability to supply disruption, rather than membership of an especially exclusive geological club. The UK – like pretty much all major industrialized economies including the US, the EU, Japan, and India – is almost entirely dependent on imports of these materials and mineral product s. But digging up more ore outside China would solve only part of the problem. The bigger bottleneck is processing. Citing International Energy Agency figures, the committee says China is the leading refiner for 19 of 20 strategic minerals, with an average market share of 70 percent. A different flag over the mine does not necessarily mean a different route through the refinery. The exposure extends beyond chips and batteries. As The Register reported in August , erbium is used to amplify signals in fiber-optic links, while yttrium goes into components including ceramic capacitors. IEEE Spectrum warned that China effectively monopolized the processing of both into the industrially usable materials manufacturers need. That concentration has already caused disruption. China’s rare earth export controls in April 2025 , introduced following US tariffs, rippled through manufacturing supply chains and forced temporary automotive plant closures. British manufacturers can suffer even when Britain isn’t the intended target. The committee also highlights gallium and germanium, used in advanced semiconductors for radar, communications, and electronic warfare. China accounts for 95 percent and 93 percent of their global production respectively, according to the report [PDF]. Beijing flexing its leverage over chip materials is not new. China announced export licensing requirements for gallium and germanium in July 2023 amid tightening Western restrictions on semiconductor technology. Yet MPs say the government has not clearly identified which domestic industrial and technological capabilities it wants to protect, making it difficult to determine which supply chains deserve priority. Nor do import statistics reveal the whole exposure…