China locks up copper supplies through free trade agreement with Chile
According to this article, it is the first tree trade agreement China has signed with a Latin American country:
President Michelle Bachelet signed yesterday a trade pact giving China its first free-trade deal in Latin America and giving Chile access to China’s enormous market and a foothold in Asia.
Bilateral trade has boomed as China’s voracious appetite for raw materials to feed rapid industrialisation has turned to resource-rich Chile.
Chile is home to the world’s biggest copper mine, and China is the world’s leading consumer of copper.
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In February Chile’s state-owned Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO), the world’s largest copper company, and China’s Minmetals Corporation signed a 550-million-dollar joint venture deal in which CODELCO will supply China with copper for the next 15 years.
Emphasis ours.
Expect to see a lot more deals like this one in the days and years to come as China continues to leverage sources for the many raw materials needed to feed its gigantic manufacturing base. One of the results of turning China into the world’s factory is turning it into one of the world’s greatest consumer of raw materials. China’s economy is heavily dependent on manufacturing, therefore they will do everything possible to secure the most efficient supply of raw materials from whichever country they deem necessary.
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