Japan's short-term reliance on China for key materials such as graphite, antimony, tin, and synthetic diamonds is unavoidable, as these are essential for semiconductors, military industry, and electronics.

Graphite: China is the world's largest producer and exporter of natural graphite. High-purity graphite is indispensable in semiconductors, lithium batteries, nuclear reactors, and other fields.

Antimony: China has long dominated global antimony supply, used in flame retardants, infrared guidance, ammunition hardening, and other military applications.

Zirconium: Although Australia and South Africa are also major producers, China has strong capacity in zircon sand processing and zirconium chemicals. Zirconium plays a key role in nuclear reactor cladding and precision ceramics.

Superhard materials (such as synthetic diamonds): China is the world's largest producer of synthetic diamonds (accounting for over 90%), used in precision machining, semiconductor cutting, and more.

Tin: China is one of the major tin producers. Tin solder is an indispensable material in electronic assembly.

Gallium is a critical raw material for manufacturing Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), essential for base stations, semiconductors, satellites, and optoelectronics.