Investments and new contracts in overseas metals and mining sectors reached $10 billion during the first half of 2023, a 131% year-to-year growth.
According to a report by the Green Finance & Development Centre, a center of the Fanhai International School of Finance (FISF) at Fudan University in Shanghai, Chinese investments and new contracts in foreign metals and mining sectors have reached more than $10 billion in the first half of 2023 and could break the record set in 2018.
The report focused on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and examined the investments under it since its inception ten years ago. The BRI which is also sometimes called The New Silk Road is a massive China-led infrastructure investment that spans the globe. Investments under the BRI have now reached the staggering $1 trillion dollar mark in total investments, according to the report. Projects under the BRI contain roads, bridges, railways, harbors, and sources of materials required for them.
Critical minerals that are crucial for energy transitions and electrification play a central role in the BRI as well. China is currently the world’s biggest producer of electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. To supply these fields and fuel domestic production, Beijing also heavily invests in foreign mining and metals industries under the BRI. During the first half of 2023 alone, more than $10 billion have flown into these sectors overseas which could topple the record of $17 billion set in 2018, if the trend continues in the second half. Engagement in the sector has grown by 131% compared to the first half of 2022, the report adds.
The full report can be found here.
Photo: iStock/jasonbennee
