China is working on revising its mining law to promote the fair treatment of foreign-funded entities in the mining sector, as part of efforts to improve the country's business environment, a government official said Oct. 9.
In a speech at the China Mining Conference and Exhibition in Tianjin, Ling Yueming, vice minister of China's Ministry of Natural Resources, told delegates that the ministry will introduce more measures to the industry later in 2019 after completing the revisions on the Mineral Resources Law to better protect the rights and interests of miners, both from China or abroad.
New policies will also focus on enhancing the transparency of competitions in the transfer of mining rights between companies, speeding up the approval process for access to mineral resources and encouraging mining companies to conduct explorations at home, Ling added.
However, some industry experts do not expect this move to attract many foreign mining companies to come to China in the near term, a partner of a Beijing-based law firm, who prefers not to be named, said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.
He said he does not see the attractiveness of China as a mining destination to foreign companies. "The only mineral that can attract them is rare earth, which most foreign miners cannot mine at home. But it is almost impossible for China to open up that sector as it is a strategic mineral ... [and] the government would not allow companies other than the six major rare earth groups to get involved in the rare earth market," he added.
"China is not as competitive as other mining destinations with limited high-quality mining assets. The ore grade [of mines] is low here even though it has a big amount of resources and reserves," he said, "What can attract foreign mining companies to China is something they can't find at home but China is rich in."
Instead of seeing overseas miners as big winners, he said it is China's mining sector that will benefit if the market fully opens up as foreign miners are more experienced in finding good assets and developing them in a low-cost and ecofriendly way.
The partner said it remains unknown if sufficient financial support will be given to these foreign miners under the new policies. "The law should also make it clear if foreign companies can get the same financial assistance from Chinese banks as other Chinese firms do," he added.
