The Chinese government isn’t backing down on its bid to buy up majority stakes in Canadian critical mineral companies.
That was the message recently relayed by Chinese ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu in comments recently made to Bloomberg.
“Politicizing normal commercial cooperation and using national security as a pretext for political interference is wrong. China has expressed firm opposition to this. We will continue to do business on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit,” said Cong.
Cong told the outlet that Chinese investors will continue doing business as usual and make bids for resource companies specializing in critical minerals abundant in Canada including lithium, graphite, copper and other rare earth elements.
Dominating the critical mineral market is a key strategy for China to gain a competitive advantage over its economic competitors, as the minerals are used in manufacturing microchips in electronics and digital technology.
Trudeau has signalled support for a critical mineral divestment strategy to counter China’s push for access to the Canadian market.
In partnership with the U.S. Canada established a critical mineral list to protect “supply chains for the critical minerals needed for important manufacturing sectors, including communication technology, aerospace and defence and clean technology.”
Additionally, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has warned the Canadian government that foreign investment into Canadian resources was a key security risk.
“While the vast majority of the foreign investment in Canada is carried out in an open and transparent manner, a number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private firms with close ties to their government and or intelligence services can pursue corporate acquisition bids in Canada or other economic activities,” claims CSIS.
In 2020 Ottawa also prevented the acquisition of TMAC Resources Hope Bay mine in northern Nunavut after launching a national security review into Shandong Gold’s attempted purchase of the company.
Despite this, several Chinese companies are continuing to make bids to buy stakes in Canadian copper, gold and lithium projects including Zijing Mining Group, Gangend Lithium and Yintai Gold.
