China Remains a Critical Player in Global Mining: Now is the Time to Engage It More Strategically [Mining Weekly]

On 31 January 2025, Kobus van der Wath, Co-Founder, ANDAMAN PARTNERS, contributed an article on the role and importance of China in global mining to Mining Weekly. Entitled China Remains a Critical Player in Global Mining: Now is the Time to Engage It More Strategically, the article outlines why China — even though its rapid growth of previous years has slowed down — remains a core node in the global mining industry.

Beyond production, consumption and trade of resources, China is instrumental in investment, financing and project execution in the mining and construction sectors. Chinese investments in foreign mines reached a high of USD 16 billion in 2023. Chinese Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms are crucial for global infrastructure development and greenfield projects.

Despite economic challenges and an increasingly complex global landscape for the mining industry, now is the time to engage China more strategically. Selling resources to China can still be highly rewarding if done correctly. This will require careful consideration of branding, putting the right marketing machinery and client engagement strategy in place — and finding the right partners.

Then there is the scope to tap China’s potential to invest in equity, greenfield projects, or co-invest in projects. Also, it is willing to lend or provide supply chain finance. The strength of its mining sector engineering, procurement and construction capabilities offers further opportunities to create value for international capex projects and operations.   

In the past, China’s super-cycle created a seller’s market for resource producers; now, you must sell resources there in a low-growth environment and compete effectively to win. But with a strategic approach, this can be achieved. It may not be the super-fast growing dynamo of previous years, but China is still China: the world’s largest resource consumer and a critical and unavoidable player in the global mining industry.

Please see the full article on the Mining Weekly website.