China's Role in the Global Development of Critical Resources: Case Studies in Coal Power, Electricity Transmission, and Seabed Mining

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Latourrette, Tom

Contributor:

Chindea, Irina A.

Helmus, Todd C.

Language:

English

Other Title:

China's Role in the Global Development of Critical Resources

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2022

Summary:

China's extensive and expanding foreign investment and financing activities over the past two decades have garnered substantial attention and raised several concerns. Such concerns are diverse and include (1) paying insufficient attention to internal politics, global relations, environmental regulations and controls, and human rights, worker safety, and health records of host nations; (2) engaging in unfair contracting practices; (3) using overseas investments and financing to attain access and influence in strategic locations; and (4) using disinformation to influence markets. For this report, the authors examined Chinese foreign investments and financing in critical resources and energy infrastructure for evidence of these types of behaviors. They used a case-study approach in which they examined investments and financing in coal power plants in Indonesia, Pakistan, and South Africa; electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure associated with the global energy interconnection initiative in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Mexico; and seabed mining globally. The objective of the research was to characterize Chinese foreign investments and financing in critical resources and energy infrastructure, emphasizing the extent to which Chinese investors engaged in any of these concerning behaviors, and to develop recommendations to build capacity among host nations to diversify their sources of investment and financing in order to minimize the potential negative impacts of an overreliance on Chinese investments and financing. The research did not turn up many clear examples of such behaviors, but the authors identified several other topics of concern that have important implications for host nations.