China’s silent power grab: How Beijing is locking up the world’s critical minerals

While the West debates industrial policy, China is buying the ground beneath our feet.

Beijing is no longer satisfied with minority stakes. It is securing control — from African open-pit mines to EV battery assembly lines in hashtag#Shanghai.

The numbers are unambiguous.

In 2025 alone, Chinese announced M&A deals in overseas mining and metals reached $43.6 billion — up nearly 40% year-on-year. Total outward direct investment hit $174.4 billion (+7.1%), with mining entrenched as the second-most attractive destination for capital after technology. Thirteen mega-deals above $1 billion closed in one year — almost double 2024’s tally.

And the infrastructure lever is staggering: $289.2 billion in new overseas Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts in 2025, mainly railways and ports engineered to move ore straight toward Chinese-controlled supply chains.

When regulatory walls rose in the US, Canada, and Australia, Chinese capital pivoted decisively to the Global South.

In Guinea, the long-delayed Simandou iron ore project — an over $20 billion investment — is now operational, targeting 100 million tons annually.

In the DRC, copper exports reached 3.4 million tons in 2025, with roughly 80% controlled or processed by Chinese entities. Companies such as Zijin Mining and CMOC Group have secured the world’s most strategic cobalt assets, including Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu.

In Latin America’s Triangle Lithium, Ganfeng Lithium LATAM launched hashtag#Argentina’s $600 million hashtag#Mariana project, while CATL committed $1.4 billion to hashtag#Bolivia’s direct lithium extraction facilities — locking in future supply before competitors even finalize feasibility studies.

But the real chokepoint is not mining. It is refining.

China mines roughly 70% of rare earths — but refines 90%. It controls 99% of graphite anode processing, more than 98% of gallium production, 75% of global cobalt processing, and up to 70% of lithium refining capacity.

This is strategic asymmetry by design. Even if the US or EU opens new mines — a 10–15 year process — much of that raw ore still requires Chinese purification. 

That dependency transforms commodities into leverage. Why spend at this scale?

First, sanction-proofing. Beijing has internalized the lesson of Russia’s isolation. Control of green-transition inputs — gallium, rare earth magnets, battery metals — creates deterrence.

Second, EV dominance. Firms like BYD and CATL do not merely assemble batteries — they control upstream extraction economics.

European manufacturers buy at market price. Chinese manufacturers buy at cost.

Third, geopolitical capital.

Infrastructure financing across Africa and Latin America converts resource access into diplomatic alignment.

The US debates subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Europe drafts strategies.

China buys the mines, builds the ports, refines the metals — and quietly reshapes the balance of power.

Do not re-invent the writing, it is important to remain consistent

This article is also published on LinkedIn. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

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