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According to a study by CEPII (Centre for Prospective Studies and International Information), China became aware of the importance of strategic metals before other countries.
Cobalt, lithium, graphite, nickel, platinum or rare earths. All these metals are essential for the energy transition and the manufacture of high-tech products. According to the CEPII, since the mid-2010s, investments in low-carbon technologies have exceeded investments in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. Global demand for these raw materials will therefore skyrocket in the coming years, like lithium, called white gold.
« Just to produce batteries for electric vehicles, the European Union will need 18 times more lithium by 2030 “says the CEPII study. China plays an important role in the market for these raw materials, it is one of the main producers of strategic metals thanks to its rich subsoil and its refining industry.
Ambitious international investment strategy
But the Middle Kingdom does not produce all the minerals it needs, so to secure its supplies, China not only refines its metals, but also those produced in other countries, which gives it a dominant position. in the world market. For exemple, ” more than 70% of the materials contained in the batteries of electric vehicles are refined on Chinese territory “, underline the economists of the CEPII.
To monopolize these materials, the Chinese power has developed for twenty years an ambitious policy of direct investments on all continents in order to exploit the mining deposits: acquisitions or stakes in local and international companies, or exchange construction of infrastructures against exploitation of raw materials. According American Enterprise Institute, China has invested nearly 125 billion dollars in the non-ferrous metals sector between 2005 and 2021. The Middle Kingdom has one ambition: to become by 2049, the year of the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the the world’s leading power in all of tomorrow’s technologies.