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The Chinese automotive giant BYD is in full-scale damage control mode following revelations at the end of the year that some of the workers building the company's new factory in northern Brazil had endured "slavery"-like conditions.

Initially, the company responded defensively, accusing the media of "smearing Chinese brands, smearing China and attempting to undermine the friendship between China and Brazil." Later, a BYD spokesperson took a more contrite tone and said the company plans to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice's investigation into the matter that's now underway.

BYD halted construction of the plant in Bahia state and severed ties with the Chinese contractor, Jinjiang Construction Brazil Ltd., that was purportedly responsible for the poor working conditions of the 163 Chinese staff.

Australia-based cobalt mining company Jervois Global was once hailed as Washington's answer to China's dominance in the critical resource mining sector but is struggling to survive after years of persistently low prices for the blue metal.

Jervois' investors announced last week they would take the company private as part of a last-ditch effort to salvage the firm that's struggled to compete against much larger Chinese rivals. U.S. fund manage Millstreet Capital Management will assume control of the mining company and inject $145 million to help revive the company's efforts to mine cobalt in places like Idaho.

Jervois, which had also received backing from the U.S. Department of Defense, began to encounter problems in early 2023 when the Chinese mining giant CMOC group began to flood the market with cobalt from its Tenke Fungurme mine in the DR Congo. Back in March, the company blamed Chinese oversupply for the plunge in cobalt prices that prompted a wave of layoffs at the firm.