China is not only one of the largest producers and consumers of energy, it is also the globe's gatekeeper when it comes to rare earth materials and minerals, which help make everything from your iPhone to cleaning the water you drink.

While most of the world has focused on the country's insatiable appetite for oil and gas, China's hold over some of the world's most important materials has become so concerning that the European Commission has repeatedly warned the markets that a crisis for the rest of the globe's supply is drawing closer.

China consumes some of the world's most used materials such as tungsten and molybdenum, which is used to make hi-tech equipment, cars, chemicals, steel and products in the non-ferrous metal industries.

It also holds some of the world's largest reserves in 17 materials and has placed stringent export restrictions, including quotas, duties and additional requirements on them.

Over the last few years, the EC said that 17 chemical elements in the periodic table - 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium) as well as scandium and yttrium - were being consumed ferociously by China and were also essentially under its control. That was significantly distorting the market in favour of Chinese industry and at the expense of companies and consumers in the European Union (EU).

"China's restrictions on rare earths and other products violate international trade rules and must be removed. These measures hurt our producers and consumers in the EU and across the world," said trade commissioner Karel De Gucht.

"Despite the clear ruling of the WTO in our first dispute on raw materials, China has made no attempt to remove the other export restrictions. This leaves us no choice but to challenge China's export regime again to ensure fair access for our businesses to these materials," he added.

The EC also listed 14 "critical mineral raw materials" for which a supply shortage would represent a substantial economic threat. Minerals in the list include antimony, indium, beryllium, magnesium, cobalt, gluorspar, niobium, gallium, germanium, tantalum, graphite and tungsten.

The EC has forged battle plans with the US and Japan to formally request dispute settlement consultations with China in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the grounds that China's export restrictions violate WTO rules and China's specific commitments on export duties as part of its WTO Accession Protocol.