China’s mining sector in 2025 is defined by a steep hierarchy in which two firms, China Shenhua Energy and Zijin Mining Group, tower over the rest of the industry and illustrate the dual structure of China’s resource base. Shenhua’s market capitalisation of USD 115 billion underscores China’s enduring dependence on coal for baseload power and industrial energy. Zijin’s nearly equivalent scale reflects China’s rapid push into transition-critical metals such as copper, lithium and gold.

The remaining firms in the top ten, from China Molybdenum (market cap of USD 56 billion) and Northern Rare Earth (USD 24 billion) to Ganfeng Lithium (USD 19 billion) and Huayou Cobalt (USD 17 billion), operate far below the scale of the two leaders, highlighting both the fragmentation and strategic specialisation that characterise China’s mid-tier mining landscape.

China’s resource footprint is simultaneously anchored in legacy fossil assets and aggressively expanding into the metals underpinning global electrification, creating both supply-chain dependencies and competitive pressures across coal, rare earths, battery materials and precious metals.