Reports that Japan's rare earth imports have fallen to about 20% of pre-China regulations have garnered attention on Chinese social media. On the 18th, an account boasting 1 million followers on China's social media Weibo (Weibo) reported, citing Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun), that Japan's rare earth imports from January to June 2026 remained around 20% of the same period in 24, which was before China's regulations. It also reported that yttrium imports from China fell to 204 tons, below the record low of 235 tons from January to June 2013, reaching a historically low level. On Weibo, related words trended high. Chinese netizens successively voiced strong opinions such as: 'Is it still 20%?', 'Yttrium is still 200 tons. We need to tighten further,' 'It seems there are still many smugglers,' 'Make it zero immediately,' 'Total ban!', and 'Don't export even a single strand of hair!' On the other hand, views also emerged such as: 'Japan seems to be doing fine without rare earths,' 'Japan's GDP for the first half of the year is still growing. (Japan) must not be scared,' 'Wouldn't this encourage Japan to develop its own resources?', and 'Japan is also a regional powerhouse. Personally, I think the rare earth card will become useless within five years.'