Tracking Chinese Mineral Engagement Along the Belt and Road

A mine worker at a Chinese-owned cobalt processing facility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. SAMIR TOUNSI / AFP

China’s centrality in the global critical minerals sector is frequently bemoaned in Western capitals, but what’s less understood is how China got there. A new report by AidData, a research center at the College of William and Mary, came out this week and tracks mineral-related deals in 165 low and middle-income countries over 22 years. 

It provides a much more concrete view of how China uses targeted Belt and Road funding to maximize copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, and rare earth element extraction and processing. Over the period, China provided $57 billion in financing for these minerals in a core group of 19 BRI countries.

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by CGSP Staff

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