EU trade chief to meet Chinese counterpart to discuss rare earths

BRUSSELS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday he had invited his Chinese counterpart Commerce Minister Wang Wentao to Brussels to find "urgent solutions" to China's tightening of its restrictions on rare earth exports.

"The minister Wang Wentao has accepted this invitation so our teams will engage under the export control dialogue upgraded after the July EU-China summit," Sefcovic told a news conference.

He said the EU had no interest in escalation, but the situation cast a shadow on EU-China relations and a prompt resolution was essential.