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## Overview China and Japan are engaged in an accelerating competition to map and develop seabed mineral resources, including rare earth elements, with both countries announcing significant developments in 2026. China issued its first map pinpointing seabed chemical elements in its eastern waters, while Japan is racing to tap undersea rare earth deposits (SCMP, April 2026). ## China's Seabed Atlas China's Ministry of Natural Resources published results of marine geological surveys conducted over the past two decades, producing an atlas charting the location, concentration, and distribution patterns of dozens of elements in seabed sediments, according to CCTV as reported by SCMP (April 2026). The atlas covers China's eastern waters and represents a significant intelligence and resource-planning asset. ## Japan's Deep-Sea Rare Earth Program Japan is separately advancing efforts to extract rare earth resources from deep-sea deposits, reportedly motivated in part by strategic concerns about dependence on Chinese rare earth supplies (SCMP, April 2026). Japan's seabed rare earth deposits — particularly in its exclusive economic zone — have been identified as potentially among the largest in the world. ## Strategic Significance - **Critical minerals race**: Seabed rare earth deposits represent a potential alternative to land-based Chinese rare earth dominance, which has been weaponized in trade disputes. - **EEZ jurisdictional tensions**: Competing claims over maritime zones in the East China Sea and Pacific create potential for resource-driven maritime incidents. - **Supply chain resilience**: Japan's rare earth extraction program is part of a broader allied effort to reduce Chinese chokehold on materials critical for semiconductors, EVs, and defense systems. - **Environmental and technical barriers**: Deep-sea mining faces significant environmental opposition and technical challenges; commercial viability timelines remain uncertain. - **China export ban leverage**: China's 2026 sulfuric acid export ban and other resource-related export controls make seabed alternatives more strategically urgent. ## Geopolitical Context This competition occurs against the backdrop of intensified US rare earth talent and independence strategy, Brazil's domestic rare earth processing requirements, and the broader critical minerals investment wave documented across 2025–2026. ## Anticipated Developments Technical milestone announcements from Japan's seabed extraction program, potential UNCLOS-related jurisdictional disputes, and investment flows into marine mining technology are near-term developments to monitor.