China is showing little tolerance with its own companies violating local laws. It's not that they want to be good corporate citizens. Bluntly put, it's a shrewd, strategic move on their part after all, China has a strong presence in the DRC’s mining sector which has abundant copper and cobalt resources.
The DRC is the world’s leading producer of cobalt and Africa’s biggest producer of copper. It's in China's best interest to look good by doing good even if at the expense of sanctioning one or two of its own companies operating in the Kivu province. China just happens to be the world’s biggest importer of cobalt, used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and high-value items. It also consumes the most copper in the world, using it to make infrastructure and manufacturing material. This all looks like a little bit like the run on uranium in the Congo by Germans, Russians and the US. Today's run on the Congo's natural resources is not that different, in fact not that different from when the Belgians were helping themselves to the vast riches of that country. Because they could.
#cobalt #uranium #china #congokinshasa #smartphones #coppermining
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