Tokyo/Mumbai, Oct. 30 -- Four Indian companies have secured China's approval to import rare earth magnets, six months after the neighbouring country with a stranglehold on the global supply of these critical minerals banned their exports.

The Chinese commerce ministry has approved the rare earth magnet export applications of Jay Ushin Ltd, De Diamond Electric India Pvt. Ltd, and the Indian units of German automotive component maker Continental AG and Japan's Hitachi Astemo, according to a senior executive with an automotive firm and an executive with an auto industry lobby group.

More applications from Indian companies are expected to be approved in the coming days, said another executive, who is expecting China's approval shortly for h...