Global competition for critical minerals has shifted from market logic to rule-based games. This section analyzes the tripartite division of labor in supply chains—resource supply by Global South countries, smelting and processing by China, and downstream technology and consumption control by the United States and the West. It notes that the United States is promoting high-standard ESG rules through bilateral cooperation and multilateral mechanisms to instrumentalize international rules, with some Global South countries adopting resource nationalist measures under coercion, and non-governmental organizations selectively amplifying negative images of Chinese enterprises. The section also reviews the current state of academic research that emphasizes material power while neglecting normative power, introduces the Western concept of "geopolitical mining" and its four-dimensional framework, and emphasizes that the United States and its allies are attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Chinese enterprises at the ESG rule level. It then proposes that this paper will explore Chinese enterprises' rule adaptation, norm-setting pathways, and prospects for participation in global mining governance through the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

I. Global Critical Mineral ESG Rules and Trends in Rule-Based Games

This section analyzes the construction process and instrumentalization trends of the global critical mineral ESG rule system. Against the backdrop of digital technology-driven energy transition, critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt have become international strategic resources due to the metal-intensive nature of renewable energy technologies, and global critical mineral competition has begun to penetrate the ESG rule domain.

The ESG rule system centers on environmental, social, and governance compliance, imposing rigid constraints throughout the mineral life cycle. Environmental compliance covers ecological restoration in mining, emission reduction and energy consumption reduction in processing, and pollution prevention in recycling; social compliance includes obtaining social licenses to operate, respecting indigenous peoples' free, prior, and informed consent rights, protecting labor rights, and avoiding funding armed conflicts; governance compliance requires enterprises to abide by laws and regulations, ensure financial transparency, establish risk management frameworks, and conduct due diligence on supply chain partners. This system was established under Western leadership, with governance actors divided into three levels: international organizations, states, and non-governmental organizations. It features two major characteristics: Western liberal democratic value orientation and contract-based due diligence responsibility transfer. Market mechanisms, transparency, and rule of law are the main pathways through which it functions, with ESG regulation gradually evolving into "long-arm jurisdiction" that embeds legal standards into global networks through supply chain governance. Due diligence serves as an effective instrument, providing enterprises with standardized procedures while also enabling them to transfer responsibility to suppliers through procurement contracts, leading to a disconnect between procedures and practice.

Current ESG rules exhibit significant instrumentalization trends. First, they have become tools of international political competition. Western countries have securitized their assessment of China's dominance in critical mineral supply chains, constructing "buyer alliances" and "supply chain alliances" aimed at "de-sinicization," incorporating ESG rules into project review scopes, and using them as alliance selection criteria to serve strategic competition against China. Second, they have become tools of inter-state industrial competition. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act links tax credits to the localization ratio of critical minerals, while the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires importers to be responsible for upstream mining issues, forming "green protectionist" trade barriers. Third, they have become tools of resource nationalism. Resource-rich countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America link ESG standards to mining permits and royalty fees, enhancing diplomatic discourse power and resource industrialization capabilities through nationalization and contract renegotiation, thereby increasing compliance costs for foreign enterprises.

The instrumentalization of ESG rules represents an extension of global critical mineral supply chain security competition at the normative level, posing numerous challenges to Chinese mineral enterprises' overseas investment and operations, while also highlighting the necessity of rule reform.

II. Current Status and Challenges of Chinese Mineral Enterprises' Overseas Operations—Taking Enterprises in the DRC as an Example

This section analyzes the investment development history of Chinese mineral enterprises in the DRC and the compliance challenges they face. Regarding investment development, Chinese enterprises' entry resulted from the combined effects of international mining cycles, the DRC's privatization reforms, and China's "going out" policy. In 2003, Huayou Cobalt became the first to invest in the DRC, followed by Jinchuan International, Minmetals Resources, Zijin Mining, and CMOC Group, which successively acquired copper-cobalt mineral resources through acquisitions or joint ventures. Currently, 23 Chinese mineral enterprises operate locally, with Chinese-funded enterprises controlling 8 of the 14 largest cobalt mining companies, producing nearly half of the country's total output, while China's cobalt refining capacity accounts for 80% of global production.

Regarding compliance risks, Chinese enterprises face restrictions across three issue areas—environment, human rights, and transparency—which essentially reflect the instrumentalization of Western ESG rules. On environmental issues, in 2025, Eastern Mining, a subsidiary of Huayou Cobalt, was suspended by the DRC government for three months due to a wastewater pond leakage incident, with production declining by 30-40%. However, this accusation was inconsistent with the enterprise's nearly 20 years of environmental investment and compliance records, involving the influence of U.S. "mineral diplomacy" and the DRC's balancing diplomacy. On human rights issues, in 2016, international organizations made ethical accusations against Huayou Cobalt using "conflict mineral" standards that did not apply to cobalt, causing it to encounter a collective trust crisis, while downstream Western enterprises only suspended cooperation without facing equivalent public pressure, demonstrating selective regulatory characteristics. On transparency issues, the 2007 "minerals-for-infrastructure" agreement triggered intervention by Western international organizations due to its mixed financing model, with the International Monetary Fund forcing a reduction in agreement scale on condition of debt relief; in 2021, non-governmental organizations questioned Sicomines on fund tracking issues, which became the basis for the DRC government to demand renegotiation and increased investment amounts. The action logic of these three issue areas follows a fixed pattern: international organizations or non-governmental organizations initiate questioning first, followed by host countries or downstream enterprises adjusting policies or business relationships, ultimately achieving the goal of restricting Chinese enterprises.

III. Response Strategies of Chinese Mineral Enterprises—Taking Huayou Cobalt as an Example

Taking Huayou Cobalt as an example, this section analyzes Chinese mineral enterprises' response strategies in critical mineral ESG rule competition, specifically including two levels: rule adaptation and norm-setting. Regarding rule adaptation, Huayou Cobalt has accumulated ESG compliance experience through three pathways: first, adapting to the DRC's legal and regulatory system centered on the Mining Code, submitting environmental certifications, implementing pollution control and waste management, committing in 2022 to invest $4.25 million over five years for 25 community projects, and entrusting the China Foundation for Rural Development to execute social responsibility projects; second, fulfilling Chinese overseas investment behavior norms, establishing a social responsibility working committee, publishing annual reports and accepting third-party audits, participating in community infrastructure, education funding, and South-South cooperation projects; third, joining international organizations such as the UN Global Compact and the Fair Cobalt Alliance, formulating supply chain policies based on OECD due diligence guidelines, issuing the "Green Cooperation Initiative" to over 2,000 upstream suppliers in 2023, and jointly exploring blockchain traceability technology with Ford Motor and other enterprises. Regarding norm-setting, Huayou Cobalt innovated in response to the 2016 cobalt supply chain trust crisis: first, addressing artisanal mining human rights risks at their source through community intervention, promoting the OECD's "five-step method" to be refined into a "six-step method," including relocating residents from risk mining areas, creating traceable new artisanal mining supply chain models, providing child protection funds, and alternative livelihood programs; second, jointly initiating the "Responsible Cobalt Initiative" with the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters, registering as an international non-governmental organization in 2019, and upgrading to the "Responsible Critical Mineral Initiative" in 2022, with mineral types expanded to nickel, lithium, cobalt, and other new energy minerals, forming international standards such as the "ESG Management Framework for Artisanal Cobalt Mining," becoming one of the international norms formulated by China in the critical mineral field. This case demonstrates that Chinese enterprises possess the capability to participate in resolving local social issues and improving industry norms in a responsible manner, accumulating experience for China's participation in ESG rule system reform.

IV. Conclusion

This section analyzes the essential characteristics and deep roots of global critical mineral rule competition, noting that the Western-led ESG rule system combines value orientation with responsibility transfer functions, and that the ESG challenges faced by Chinese mineral enterprises stem from power games and selective regulation. It also emphasizes that Chinese enterprises have accumulated rich innovative practical experience and possess the capability to participate in international standard improvement. In the future, China needs to transcend Western rule competition, theoretically constructing a "development-oriented" ESG framework, practically building a multi-level global mining cooperation system with micro-level enterprise responsibility, meso-level industry norms, and macro-level national promotion, expanding diverse governance dimensions such as trade and technical standards, and creating a mining development community integrating commercial practice, knowledge production, and rule governance.