China is doubling down on DR Congo just as Washington tries to up its own bets on one of the world’s most lucrative critical minerals hubs.
Kinshasa and Beijing inked a new deal covering geological data sharing, investment protections, and local processing, after the Trump administration struck a minerals-for-security partnership with the DRC in December, part of a broader effort to counter China’s dominance as Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi’s government battles Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the east.
But the China-Congo pact should not be seen as a “riposte” to Washington, said C. Geraud Neema, Africa analyst at the China-Global South Project: “This China agreement doesn’t come close in magnitude with what Kinshasa signed with DC.”
Still, Beijing retains structural advantages as the DRC’s biggest bilateral creditor, and Chinese firms, which already dominate cobalt and copper production, are now looking to other critical minerals. Zijin Mining Group is set to commission a $1.4 billion Manono lithium project in June, which analysts said could produce around 130,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually — roughly 5% of global supply.