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In December 2021 Sinomine Resource Group (SHA:002738), a Chinese specialty mining company, agreed to acquire the Bikita lithium mine in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe, from Bikita Minerals (Pvt) Ltd for USD 180 million. The acquisition was completed in January 2022. Sinomine subsequently committed an additional USD 300 million to expand operations and construct a spodumene concentrate processing plant on-site. Bikita is one of Zimbabwe's largest and oldest lithium operations, with significant spodumene (hard rock) lithium mineralisation. Under Sinomine's ownership it became the most significant lithium producer in Zimbabwe, with concentrate output feeding Chinese battery-grade lithium hydroxide refineries. Zimbabwe holds one of Africa's largest lithium reserves, and the Bikita acquisition was the first of several Chinese acquisitions of Zimbabwean lithium assets in 2021-2023. The acquisition followed Zimbabwe's 2019 ban on raw lithium ore exports (requiring in-country beneficiation) — a policy that created a competitive moat for investors willing to build processing capacity on-site, which Chinese companies with integrated battery supply-chain incentives were better positioned to fund than Western juniors. Sinomine's acquisition was part of a broader Chinese consolidation of Zimbabwean lithium: Huayou Cobalt, Chengxin Lithium, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt each acquired significant stakes in other Zimbabwean lithium projects over the same period, creating a near-monopoly on Zimbabwe's emerging lithium sector.

Austria's Federal Ministry of Finance published the Masterplan Rohstoffe 2030 on 8 October 2021 as the country's comprehensive national raw-materials strategy. The plan establishes a policy framework for securing Austria's primary and secondary mineral supply, aligning with EU Critical Raw Materials Act obligations, and promoting circular-economy principles to reduce supply-chain vulnerability. Annual Monitoringberichte (2024, 2025) track implementation progress against the plan's 2030 objectives across mining-permit frameworks, R&D priorities, and secondary-feedstock development.

The Law of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign Sanctions was adopted at the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC on 10 June 2021 (Presidential Order No. 90, President Xi Jinping) and entered into force on the same day. Comprising 16 articles, it establishes the unified statutory framework for China's countermeasure regime against foreign states or organisations that "violate international law and basic norms of international relations" by imposing discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese citizens and organisations — the parent authority under which every China countermeasure-list, Unreliable Entity List, blocking-statute, and supply-chain-security instrument in the IPTM register operates. Article 6 enumerates the countermeasure toolbox (visa denial, asset freezes, transaction prohibitions, and "other necessary measures"); Article 12 is the blocking-statute provision that prohibits PRC persons from implementing foreign discriminatory measures — first operationalised in May 2026 against five US-sanctions-compliant refineries.