China needs a bigger say in deep-sea mining rules: resources official

China needs to have better technology and a bigger say in the international maritime order if it is to win the global deep-sea mining race for critical minerals, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

In an article published on Friday in Study Times – a newspaper run by the Communist Party’s Central Party School – Wu Changbin, director of the ministry’s China Deep Ocean Affairs Administration, said China could increase its voice and competitiveness in the field by playing a more active role in global ocean governance and developing its own advanced equipment.

“During this critical window when international rules for deep-sea activities are still taking shape, China – which has the widest range of international seabed resource types and the largest number of mining areas – should take a more proactive role in consultations on the international maritime order,” Wu said.

He said the country should be deeply involved in talks on exploitation rules, conduct in-depth research on core issues, and “play a key guiding role” in the early formation of a regulatory framework.

The world’s seabeds are believed to hold a range of critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel and copper, which are vital to technologies from electric vehicles to steel production.

  

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