"My understanding is that the agreement, which was found between the US and China in this matter, is 'erga omnes', so we should apply it to all and, of course, including the European Union," Maros Sefcovic told reporters during a visit to Rome.

Following discussions with the United States, China on Thursday said it would suspend certain export restrictions for one year, including on rare earth materials, that had been announced in October.

The controls on rare earths -- which were a major sticking point in trade negotiations between US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping this week -- have rattled markets and snarled supply chains.

Sefcovic, who met with Italy's agriculture minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, said the EU was now having "high-level official talks on export controls" with China.

"I will speak again with my Chinese counterpart very, very soon," he said.

China is the world's leading producer of the minerals used to make magnets that are crucial to the auto, electronics and defence industries.

It has required licences for certain exports of the materials since April, but Sefcovic said that system was not working.

"We have not very positive experience with the issuing of export licenses for the rare earths," he said, noting that only 50 percent of EU applications were "properly processed" so companies received the needed rare earth materials.

"It has direct implications on the production capacities of the companies in the EU," he noted.

The Chinese restrictions that were put in place on October 9 required exporters to obtain permission for technologies used for rare-earth mining and smelting, among other processing steps.