Why China needs allies in the next mining frontier – the ocean floor

A battle is heating up over the extraction of minerals from seabeds and Beijing needs allies to win it, researchers say

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The ocean floor harbours a wealth of minerals that many countries are keen to exploit. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 11:00pm, 10 Dec 2024

China should shore up alliances with pro-seabed mining countries to control and extract the wealth of critical resources in the world’s largely unexplored ocean depths.

Making the call in the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Pacific Journal, a group of researchers argued that the United States and other Western countries opposed seabed mining because they feared it would expand China’s influence in the deep seas and give it a bigger edge in mineral supply chains.

“[China should] strengthen the strategic consensus among pro-development advocates; enhance scientific exchange and technological innovation between countries such as China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, and India; and build transnational cooperation platforms in the deep sea domain,” the researchers from Shandong University’s school of Northeast Asia studies said in the August issue.

China could also sign deals on maritime cooperation and ocean development with Latin American, African, and Pacific Island nations to ignite interest in the area, they added.

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Tin mining of seabeds off Indonesia threatens fishing and the environment

The ocean floor is shaping up to be the world’s next battleground of resource competition, with deposits of essential minerals such as nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese in seabeds around the world.