China's newly unveiled 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly targets dominance in critical mineral markets, with its strategy dependent on labor practices in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that international observers describe as state-imposed forced labor, according to an analysis by Global Rights Compliance.
The plan, released during China's annual two sessions in March, prioritizes positioning China at the "forefront of global science and technology" while eliminating technological dependencies. The strategy relies heavily on raw materials from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government operates labor transfer programs targeting Uyghur and other ethnic minorities.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative analysts and Republican lawmakers frame China's labor practices as an unfair trade advantage that distorts global markets. They argue the U.S. must respond aggressively to prevent China from using coerced labor as a competitive tool in critical mineral supply chains.
Republican foreign policy hawks have emphasized that China's dominance in rare earth processing poses direct national security risks. They argue the administration should make clear to Beijing that the U.S. will not tolerate market manipulation through forced labor, and should consider tariffs or other trade remedies on Chinese mineral products.
Some conservative commentators have also argued that engaging with China on this issue requires leveraging trade relationships directly. They say the U.S. should condition favorable trade terms on demonstrable compliance with international labor standards and require verifiable supply chain transparency from all trading partners.
What the Left Is Saying
Human rights advocates and progressive policy organizations say China's forced labor infrastructure represents a systematic violation of international labor standards that requires aggressive enforcement by the United States. They argue U.S. companies must be held accountable for supply chain links to Xinjiang, regardless of where final manufacturing occurs.
Progressive lawmakers and activists have called for stricter enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a 2021 law that prohibits importing goods linked to forced labor from Xinjiang. They argue the law has not been adequately implemented and that companies continue to source materials or components with indirect links to coercive labor programs.
Democratic lawmakers have also pressed the administration to require detailed disclosure from trading partners about how they prevent forced labor-linked goods from entering global supply chains. Human rights organizations say the U.S. must lead in establishing that economic competition cannot be built on human rights abuses.
What the Numbers Show
Xinjiang contains 83.5 percent of China's beryllium reserves, a material with no substitute in semiconductor manufacturing, according to the analysis by Global Rights Compliance. China controls approximately 99 percent of global lithium iron phosphate battery production, much of it anchored in Xinjiang's mineral wealth.
Industrial electricity in Xinjiang costs approximately 2.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to roughly 7.5 cents in the United States and 22 cents in the European Union. Energy accounts for 40 to 60 percent of processing costs for materials including titanium, magnesium and lithium, creating what analysts describe as a structural competitive advantage.
On the same day the five-year plan was released, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and 18 state-owned companies signed 92 agreements across energy, critical minerals, computing and manufacturing. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, also passed at this year's two sessions, establishes Mandarin-first policies across official and educational settings.
The Bottom Line
China's five-year plan explicitly integrates Xinjiang's mineral resources and labor systems into its strategy for technological and economic dominance. The combination of subsidized energy costs and state-directed labor programs creates competitive advantages that international competitors cannot match under free market conditions.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act remains the primary U.S. legal tool for addressing these concerns, though enforcement has been inconsistent according to human rights organizations. The administration has called on trading partners to demonstrate how they prevent forced labor-linked goods from entering supply chains.
Analysts say the challenge for U.S. policymakers is that once electricity enters China's national grid, its origin becomes indistinguishable, meaning products manufactured far from Xinjiang can still carry the hidden subsidy of forced labor while appearing compliant with regulations. This technical reality complicates enforcement and may require international coordination with allied nations to establish verifiable supply chain standards.