China last year committed more resources than ever to mining abroad as part of Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure programme, a new study found, underscoring its growing grip on the metals supply chain just as fears of over-reliance on Beijing grow around the world.

China’s involvement in the metals and mining sector — in the form of equity investments and construction contracts — reached over $21-billion under Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to a report from Griffith University in Australia and Fudan University in Shanghai. The tally marks the highest since the Chinese president’s signature effort started in 2013.

China’s engagement has been very strategic and growing over the past years, thanks to advantages including its know-how and ability to fund large-scale projects, said Christoph Nedopil, a professor at Griffith University and one of the report’s authors. “It is likely that Chinese policymakers are also welcoming strategic control by Chinese – often private - companies in critical minerals,” he said.

The country’s global footprint is a reflection of its dominance over production and refining of many minerals that gives it huge influence over commodity markets. Beijing earlier this month flexed its muscles by imposing export restrictions on tungsten and other critical metals used in electronic, aviation and defense industries, in response to the initial tariffs from the Trump administration.

The European Union, Japan and the US have been highlighting concerns over China’s hold on the metals value chain. The world’s No. 2 economy accounts for more than half of the global production of battery metals including lithium, cobalt, and manganese. In 2023, it also made up 69% of global rare earth output, according to the US government.

Lithium, used in electric-vehicle batteries, is a case in point. While the US is building out supply networks with free-trade partners such as Canada and Australia, China is consolidating its relationships with African nations that are expected to be among the world’s biggest producers of the metal by the end of the decade.

China has also sought to forestall the west’s efforts to develop new mining and processing capacity by restricting exports of key technology and equipment.