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Chinese mineral power expands control over critical inputs, strengthens global industrial chains, and accelerates transition to sustainable mining with thousands of new green mines and strategic discoveries, consolidating a central position in the international dispute for essential resources for technology, energy, and defense.
China has strengthened its position in the global mineral sector by reporting that it leads world reserves of 14 strategic minerals, ranks first in the production of 17 critical inputs, and moved approximately 32.7 trillion yuan in 2025, a value close to R$ 24 trillion.
Released by the Ministry of Natural Resources in April 2026, the figures expand the country’s weight in high-tech, energy, semiconductor, battery, defense, metallurgy, and energy transition supply chains.
Amid a growing dispute over raw materials considered decisive for global industry, Beijing is articulating reserve expansion, increased production, and dominance of industrial processing as part of a long-term economic security strategy.
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Global leadership in strategic mineral reserves
According to the ministry, the country holds the largest known reserves of 14 strategic mineral resources, including rare earths, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, antimony, gallium, germanium, indium, fluorite, and graphite, essential inputs for advanced industrial chains.
Present in chips, electric motors, solar panels, wind turbines, and electronic equipment, these materials support sensitive sectors of the global economy, including energy transition technologies and high value-added industrial systems.
In addition to its reserve base, China also led in 2025 the production of 17 minerals, including coal, vanadium, titanium, zinc, rare earths, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, antimony, gallium, indium, gold, tellurium, phosphorus, fluorite, and graphite.
In 11 of these cases, such as rare earths, tungsten, antimony, gallium, indium, and tellurium, Chinese production accounted for more than half of the world’s volume, consolidating a dominant position in segments considered critical.
Chinese mineral sector moves trillions
With approximately 32.7 trillion yuan in 2025, the Chinese mineral sector reached the equivalent of approximately R$ 24 trillion, an amount that represented more than 23% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
This performance consolidates mining as one of the bases of the national economy, not only through extraction but also through the mastery of subsequent stages of the production chain, such as refining, beneficiation, smelting, and industrial processing.
More than just exploiting natural resources, the country occupies a central position in transforming these minerals into industrial components, expanding its influence over production chains used by companies in different regions of the world.
Deposit discoveries enhance resource security
Since 2021, when it initiated a new round of strategic actions aimed at expanding mineral exploration, China has registered 398 medium and large-scale deposit discoveries, including oil and gas.
Throughout this period, there have been advances in traditional resources, such as copper, gold, and potassium, while minerals linked to new technologies, such as lithium, helium, and high-purity quartz, have also gained prominence.
According to Xiong Zili, director of the Department of Geological Exploration and Management of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the results reflect a continuous effort to expand strategic reserves and reduce vulnerabilities in industrial supply.
Treated as a component of national and economic security, the mineral policy integrates mining, industry, energy, and technology within the planning conducted by the Chinese Communist Party for the socialist modernization project.
Expansion of green mines and environmental requirements
Parallel to its production expansion, the country claims to have established over 5,500 green mines at provincial level or above, demonstrating the incorporation of environmental criteria into its mineral policy.
Of this total, over 1,000 units are recognized at the national level, while approximately 4,500 operate at the provincial level, forming a network that adheres to environmental standards defined by the central government.
As reported by the Ministry of Natural Resources, all new mines must follow green mining guidelines, while existing operations undergo gradual environmental modernization processes.
Requirements include the rehabilitation of degraded areas, reduction of environmental impacts, greater efficiency in resource utilization, and improvement of technical operating standards.
According to Dong Qingji, deputy director of the mineral resource protection and supervision department, the construction of green mines “has become a common understanding” among local governments, companies, and regulatory bodies.
Environmental legislation integrated into mining
In recent years, green mining requirements have been incorporated into the Mineral Resources Law and the Ecological Environment Code, creating a more robust legal basis for sector oversight and adaptation.
The adopted structure combines central government guidance, inter-departmental coordination, corporate leadership, and public supervision mechanisms, establishing an integrated governance model.
With this approach, environmental standards become a permanent part of licensing and operational processes, reducing room for practices considered ecologically inappropriate.
Furthermore, Beijing indicated that it intends to update technical standards for sectors such as coal and non-ferrous metals, as well as develop specific criteria for open-pit mines, geothermal resources, mineral water, and offshore oil and gas projects.
By integrating production expansion and environmental requirements, China’s mineral strategy combines resource security, industrial development, and adaptation to more rigorous ecological standards within a long-term state planning framework.
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