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China has been able to dominate the global critical minerals market through strong international financing, according to a recent report (Financial Times, subscription).  
 
What’s going on: A study by AidData at the College of William & Mary, published late last month, “found that Chinese policy and commercial banks—working alongside private Chinese entities and some non-Chinese groups—issued loans worth nearly $57bn from 2000 to 2021 in 19 low- and middle-income countries for mining and processing copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium and rare earths, components critical to clean energy technologies such as electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.”  
  
Key points: Among the study’s principal findings are the following:  

• The critical minerals funding is “much broader” than the financing in place for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the country’s global infrastructure investment strategy. 
• China’s state-owned banks play the biggest financing role.
• Most lending is for “upstream resource extraction.”
• More than three-fourths of the country’s state-backed lending for critical minerals is directed at Chinese-owned ventures and subsidiaries. 
• “Scores” of private Chinese firms, as well as some non-Chinese financiers, play a role.
• Two-thirds of the financing has gone into joint ventures and subsidiaries in which “the host government” has no significant ownership.  

What’s next: “China’s dominance in many cleantech sectors is expected to expand over the next 10 years,” according to forecasts.  
 
The NAM says: “We’re at a decisive juncture in the global competition to grasp the brass ring on critical minerals,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.  

• “China isn’t slowing down in its race to control the space. It is crucial that the U.S. take the opportunity to work strategically with allies, and more importantly to invest now in accessing and processing critical minerals here at home. By reforming U.S. permitting laws, we can ensure we do just that.”