News

Private Enterprise Symposium on the Prospecting Breakthrough Strategic Actions Held in Beijing
Source: Portal Website of the Ministry of Land and Resources Citation:  Portal Website of the Ministry of Land and Resources Date: March 28, 2012

Leaders from ACFIC and the Ministry of Land and Resources present at Private Enterprise Symposium on the Prospecting Breakthrough Strategic Actions.  (Photo by Zhao Xinhao and text by Chen Hui)

In the afternoon on March 28, the Private Enterprise Symposium on the Prospecting Breakthrough Strategic Actions was convened in Beijing jointly by the Ministry of Land and Resources and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC). The symposium saw well-known Chinese private entrepreneurs and aimed to listen to their opinions and suggestions on how private enterprises can play a role in the actions. Wang Min, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, chaired the symposium. Peng Qiming, Director of the Department of Geological Perambulation at the ministry gave an introduction to the Implementation Plan on the Prospecting Breakthrough Strategic Actions. Six private entrepreneurs, including Liu Canglong (President of Sichuan Hongda Group) among others, delivered their presentations, speaking freely about their views and proposing opinions and suggestions on the ways to give play to the role of enterprises. Present at the symposium were Xu Shaoshi, Minister of the ministry, Secretary of the CPC Leading Group of the ministry and State Land Inspector General, and Quan Zhezhu, Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the CPC leading group and First Vice Chairman of the ACFIC, both of whom made important speeches. Also present at the symposium were Zhong Ziran, Chief Engineer of the ministry, Sun Anmin, Vice Chairman of the ACFIC, and Ouyang Xiaoming, Deputy Secretary General of the ACFIC. Heads of relevant departments at the ministry, China Geological Survey and China Mining Association also attended the symposium. (By Chen Hui, Zhao Xinhao and Chu Hongli)

Wang Min Proposed to Establish a Consultation Mechanism among Directors of Geological Survey Administration in Member Countries of CCOP at the 58th CCOP Steering Committee Meeting
Source: Portal Website of the Ministry of Land and Resources Citation: China Land and Resources News Date: March 27, 2012

On March 26, the meeting of the 58th Steering Committee of the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programs in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) was open in the International Conference Hotel of Nanjing, China. Wang Min, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, PRC, proposed at the meeting to establish a consultation mechanism among directors of geological survey administration in member countries of CCOP so as to further promote exchanges in geosciences research and development of geosciences in the region. Wang Min said, China, as one of the founding members of CCOP, has always been actively participating in activities organized by it and teams up with it to hold symposiums and training sessions in various areas; meanwhile, China has also provided funding and technical support to the best of its capacity for CCOP and other member countries. He stated that China will participate in relevant activities of CCOP as always and make the most of this platform to maintain good cooperation with member countries, cooperating ones and associated international organizations and institutions, and will conduct more cooperation and exchanges in oil & gas, solid minerals, ground water, geological environment and geo-information. He stated, against the background of increasingly unstable and uncertain factors as a result of ongoing deep adjustment of the world economy, the development of CCOP is facing a remarkable shortage of projects and funding. Therefore, the major issue to be considered by the meeting of the 58th steering committee is how to address the current uncertainty for the sustainable development of CCOP. To this end, it is urgently needed to further transform the way of thinking and forge ahead. Therefore, he proposed to establish a consultation mechanism among directors of geological survey administration in member countries of CCOP. This mechanism will take platforms including CCOP, CHINA MINING in Tianjin, China and China-ASEAN Mining Expo in Nanning, China to discuss and agree on important projects of cooperation and research on geosciences, to jointly conduct research on oil & gas resources, comparative research on cross-border metallogenic belts, mineral resources appraisal, ground water survey and evaluation, surveillance and control of geological hazards, geo-information technology and management, risk research and research on global climate change. The meeting of the 58th steering committee will review its work in 2011 and discuss and agree on the 2012 work plan, recommended and newly launched projects, appropriation budget of work and the venues for the next annual session of CCOP and the next meeting of the steering committee. 100-strong representatives from 13 member countries attended the meeting. Foundered in 1966, CCOP is the only inter-governmental geosciences organization in East and Southeast Asia. As the supreme policy-making body of CCOP, the Steering Committee comprises the permanent representatives of the member countries. (By Wang Shaoyong)

China Will Continue the Opening-up Strategy in the Mining Industry - Wang Min Addressed the China Mining Investment Forum
Source: Portal Website of the Ministry of Land and Resources Citation: China Land and Resources News Date: March 8, 2012

On March 6, the China Mining Investment Forum was held in Toronto, Canada. Wang Min, Deputy Minister of Land and Resources, PRC stated in his address that China will continue the opening-up strategy in the mining industry Wang Min stated that opening-up is the unswerving basic state policy of China. To deepen the cooperation in the international mining industry, the Ministry of Land and Resources of PRC is formulating opinions to support opening-up in the domains of geology and mineral resources, continuing to encourage foreign investment in survey and exploitation of mineral resources within the territory of China and deepen all-round cooperation in survey, exploitation, processing, trade, technology and management of mineral resources. Until now, China has cooperated with more than 60 countries and regions in mineral resources survey and exploitation, and hundreds of mining companies from 20-plus countries and regions have conducted more than 400 survey and exploitation projects of mineral resources, such as those of oil, natural gas, coal, copper, lead zinc, gold and iron. Foreign companies have set up some 600 mining enterprises and offices in China, investing about 800 exploration and exploitation rights. Meanwhile, China has also been active in exploring cooperation in survey and exploitation of overseas mineral resources and has required Chinese enterprises to pay more attention to environmental protection and interests and economic development of the regions where resources are located. He stressed that the Chinese government will place a higher value on improvement to the investment environment and protection of lawful rights and interests of investors. In the past year, the Chinese government took a number of measures, including encouraging foreign companies to act as strategic investors of Chinese listed companies and raising funds on the Chinese capital market, encouraging multinational companies to establish in China regional headquarters, centers of R&D, purchasing, financial management, settlement, cost and profit proliferation and encouraging foreign companies to engage in reorganization, transformation, merger and restructuring of Chinese enterprises by means of M&A and taking stakes. Meanwhile, it has also actively encouraged qualified Chinese enterprises to increase access to capital by going public on overseas exchanges. By the end of 2011, over 100 Chinese enterprises including major mining companies were listed overseas.   He suggests that China and Canada shall work together to build a good environment in order to increase bilateral investment and grasp development opportunities by strengthening the dialogue mechanism regarding cooperation in mineral resources at enhanced China-Canada mining cooperation platforms such as CHINA MING, PDAC and China-Canada Mining Investment Forum. (By Yu Xingdi and Yu Defu)

Vice Minister Wang Min attended PDAC Conference 2012 in Canada
Source: Office of CHINA MINING Citation: Office of CHINA MINING Date: Mar. 6, 2012

PDAC Annual Conference 2012 and the 80th Canada Mining Conference & Exhibition was held on March 4-7, 2012 in Metro Toronto Convention Center. Chinese Government’s delegation led by Vice Minister Wang Min of the Ministry of Land and Resources attended it. During the conference, Mr. Wang made an important speech in Mining Investment Forum and also met the leaders from Natural Resources Canada, Energy & Resources Saskatchewan as well as Geology Survey Bureau of Saskatchewan, and the two sides had talks on the cooperation in mining field. In addition, CHINA MINING Promotion Cocktail Party was held in PDAC, with more than 200 participants. PDAC conference is an internationally authoritative mining conference with the largest scale organized by the Prospectors and  Developers Association of Canada. It has been successfully held for 79 times in succession since it was held first in 1932. PDAC annual conference is mainly composed of three parts, namely, Technical Sessions, Trade Show, and Investor Exchange. It is understood that more than 27,000 people from over 100 countries attended the PDAC annual conference this time, with more than 1,000 booths. A special booth of the Ministry of Land and Resources was set in trade exhibition area. The booth with China Red as dominant hue was very attractive, where Chinese Government’s mining policies and new results in geologic survey were shown in picture, text, video and other manners, and also brochures of CHINA MINING 2012 were distributed to invite relevant personnel, mining investment companies, mining trade companies, and government representatives in mining from different places around the world to participate the 14th CHINA MINING held in Tianjin Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center from November 3 to 6, 2012. The Administrative Office of Organizing Committee of CHINA MINING Congress and Expo (CHINA MINING) appointed a 6 members’ delegation led by Ji Sizhen to introduce CHINA MINING2012 in PDAC annual conference, and a good promotion effect was obtained. At the same time,, about 200 people including those from China Mining Association and corporate representatives attended this grand PDAC annual conference. The participants expressed in succession that they hoped to attend CHINA MINING through which they could establish contact and cooperation with China’s colleagues, and also they showed great expectations for performance of China mining in the international market.

The visit of the Chinese Delegation to Africa will be bound to get a win-win result
Source: Website of the Ministry of land and Resources   Citation: Website of the Ministry of land and Resources    Date: Feb 20, 2012

The first handshake between the Chinese Mining and the Mining Indaba did not happen in the meaningful year of 2012. In 2007, Sun Wensheng, the then Minister of Land and Resources, participated in the Mining Indaba during his visit to South Africa. And China has also participated in the event in 2008, 2010 and 2011, and at the events, the Chinese delegates made simple demonstrations and introduced the conditions about China and its minerals. Members who have participated in the previous events still remember the passion and special concern encountered at the venue.
 
In 2012, when the global economic prospect is still unclear, the mining community is still watching, and their main targets are in Asia and Africa. On such an occasion, the Chinese delegation’s approaching Africa for point-to-point contact and communication will surely be mutually beneficial and result in a win-win result.
China has long friendship with African countries, so there have been no handicap at the beginning of the cooperation, however, preparations must be made for communications. According to the original plan, the Chinese delegation is participating in the Mining Indaba for the following objectives: One is to know about the trend of global mining, including various information about mining development, visiting booths of different governments and companies, communication with people of the international mining community, especially those from African countries; and the other is to promote the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo 2012. The Chinese delegation made 1 speech and held 3 talks with the 2 days of valid period. On the evening of Feb 8, through negotiation, Chen Yong, Head of the delegation of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China made a speech at the Cocktail for Mining of the Year of Dragon held by Beijing Axis. The cocktail, held at a private art museum in South Africa, attracted about 200 attendants, who, according to the convention, held the cups as listened carefully to Chen Yong’s introduction about China’s policies on geological prospecting and mineral development management. Upon completion, many people were eager to consult and exchange name cards with members of the Chinese delegation, asking for taking photos with them.
The three talks include the talk between the Chinese delegation and Gerard Graham, Executive Chairman of the Council for Geoscience, South Africa; the talk among the Chinese delegation and Mavcole, director of the International Cooperation Department of the South African Minister of Mineral Resources and manager of the Mineral Department of the Pogun Company; and the talk among delegates of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China, representatives of the Organizing Committee of the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo, and vice president Moleand Sales Director Norseof the Organizing Committee of the Mining Indaba. And the last talk centered on the theme of the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo 2012 to be held in this November.
 
The CHINA MINING Congress & Expo, born at the end of October, 1999, is several years younger that the Mining Indaba, however, after 14 years of development, it has been a brand of international mining conferences thanks to the economic rise of China. The 2012 CHINA MINING Congress & Expo will be held at the Tianjin Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center during November 4 and 6, 2012.

There were actually 2 delegates of the Chinese government to the venue of the Mining Indaba, one was the delegation of the Ministry of Land and Resources, the other was the Tianjin Delegation representing the Organizing Committee of the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo. The main task of the latter was to promote the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo to the whole world. However, they felt stimulated once entering the venue.
At the elevator lobby, a striking slogan was seen at the most conspicuous location: Welcome to the “Indaba in Asia” (the Asian Forum of the Mining Indaba) in Singapore during Oct 29-31, 2012. It is obvious that the company hosting the Mining Indaba has noticed the potential value of Asia and they also "keep pace with the times". This event is only 2 days from the CHINA MINING 2012, and it is inevitable that the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo will face strong international challengers.   On the morning of Feb 8, the two heads of the two Chinese delegates, Chen Yong, Assistant Inspector of the Department of International Corporation, Science & Technology, Ministry of Land and Resources, and Lu Hong from the Guangzhou Municipal Land and Resources and Housing Administrative Bureau, respectively on behalf of the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Organizing Committee of the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo, made an appointment to meet Vice President Mole and Sales Director Norse of the Organizing Committee of the Mining Indaba. The meeting was planned to last half an hour, but it finally lasted for more than one hour. Both parties introduced the 2 events and information about the organizing committees, and, on the basis of mutual communication and understanding, they reached a consensus on cooperation as follows: it is agreed to establish strategic partnership between the Mining Indaba and the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo, it is agreed that the Indaba in Asia and the CHINA MINING Congress & Expo will cooperate with each other and be engaged in mutual promotion.(By Zhao Fan)

China’ Voice in South Africa Mining Indaba
Source: Portals of Ministry of Land and Resources   Citation: China Land and Resources News   Date: Feb. 10, 2012

On February 8, South Africa Mining Indaba is still under way. Deputy Chairman of the organizing committee of the conference Jonathan Moore said when interviewed by the reporter that more than 7,000 representatives attend the conference. He said with pride: “the representatives come from all the continents except the Antarctic Continent. If you want to know what makes this conference distinctive, I am proud to say that this is where the feature lies.   In terms of the number, China did not make conspicuous presence in the South Africa Mining Indaba 2012. Without exhibition stands and speech for the conference, the delegation representing both countries’ governments and the enterprises which attend the conference in groups or in individual is composed of less than 100 people in total. But on the exchange platform of the mineral there is a potential and penetrating voice, which is delivered by China.   The minister of South Africa Ministry of Mineral Resources talked about China International Mining conference in the opening ceremony. In the first keynote speech, Barry Eichengreen, expert in the international monetary history and author of Exorbitant Privilege, presents a special analysis of Chinese currency – the factors in influencing Renminbi. From the conference of this year, the South Africa International Conference adopts Chinese as one of the translated target language. So “China” makes its way into the key words of many keynote speeches.     On the afternoon of February 8, the Beijing Axis held the Dragon Year cocktail party for mining industry, specially inviting Chinese delegation to attend the party. At the party, the president of the company Cooper•Ven•Devas made a long speech, saying that Asia plays an important role in the trade and currency around the world. China’s economy development is trying to land in a soft way by making more adjustments for the purpose of more sustainable development. In the following ten years, China and India will make great contribution to the increase in the global GDP. But they have different development models. The rise of China and India will change the global trade and business pattern. He gave an example. Three decades ago, the coal trade was confined to Europe, leaving Asia on the insignificant position for the global coal trade. Today, the situation has changed. Asia rose to prominence. In 2010, China became the world’s fourth investing country. The new market is coming into existence and the new competitors are China and India. This hints that it is unwise and impossible to ignore China, behaviorally and psychologically. As China plays an increasingly important role in the 21st century, Gu Bai picks a Chinese name for himself and two thirds of employed workers are Chinese. He frequently enters and exits from China, almost leaving his visa not stamped with any other countries’ seals. Gu Bai views the China’s mining industry very positively and agrees with the micro-strategic adjustment made by Chinese government recently, for he said that “we should not keep eye on the short-term development but pay attention to the long-term and sustainable development”. At the cocktail party with the theme of Chinese dragon, the Chinese delegation introduced the prospecting achievements and geological exploration work China has made and launched over the recent years to dozens of foreign representatives who are attracted to the Chinese delegation, pointing out that China is experiencing the period of promoting industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization. So China has higher demand for natural resources. To ensure the stable and accelerated growth in the social economy, the Ministry of Land and Resources aims to strengthen the guaranteeing capacity of utilizing natural resources and promote the geological prospecting. The central and provincial governments greatly increase financial investment in the public work and basic geological work, efficiently encouraging the investment of social fund. As the geological prospecting develops rapidly, China is launching the implementation of “prospecting strategic action” and will promote the prospecting in the coming ten years to strengthen the international cooperation in mining industry so as to achieve the mutual benefits. The Ministry of Land and Resources will continue to improve the regulations and laws in foreign-related mining industry to make the Chinese investment environment of mining industry more standard and transparent, which is more favorable for various enterprises to invest and develop their businesses. “We would like to channel and support the domestic powerful and creditworthy mining enterprises to invest overseas and launch the cooperation in mining industry. We also welcome the mining enterprises from around the world to invest in China and jointly exploit the mineral resources.” said Chen Yong, head of delegation of the Ministry of Land and Resources. (By Zhao Fan)

High-level Contacts Paving Way for Enterprises
--- Government Officials of China and South Africa Communicating in Front of Exhibition Stand of South Africa Mining Indaba
Source: Portals of Ministry of Land and Resources   Citation: China Land and Resources News   Date: February 9, 2012

Upon the conclusion of the opening ceremony of the South Africa Mining Indaba 2012, the exhibition hall begins to assume the lively atmosphere. Crowds of participants enter the exhibition halls, who seek the proper cooperative objectives in minerals with their sensitive professional smell.   Most of the representatives attending the South Africa Mining Indaba come from African countries. In South Africa, whether it is the major organizers or the countries rich in mineral resources, they are the target countries attracting the attention of the participants.   China also attracts the same attention as South Africa. China sent two delegations to attend the South Africa Mining Indaba 2012, with two objectives besides the collection of the mineral information, which are to publicize the CHINA MINING 2012 and to plan to establish the fixed Chinese exhibition stage in the South Africa Mining Indaba. With these two objectives, the delegates of the Ministry of Land and Resources PRC after attending the opening ceremony come to the exhibition stand of the Ministry of Mineral Recourses of South Africa.   Upon hearing the news, Jihad Griham, Chief Executive of the Land Commission of the Ministry of Mineral Resources of South Africa, who is in charge of science service, looks very happy. With warm greeting, he made the introduction, saying that he has been engaged in the work for 28 years, with the major businesses focusing on the survey of geological minerals, governance and research of gangue, and the research and prevention of land environment and land disasters, such as earthquake, tsunami. He said that with the closing relations between human and geology, the Geological Commission has been expanding the working contents. Previously, the work was focused on the map plotting. Now the work transfers to the environmental issues and the service provision, which is just the theme of the South Africa International Mining Conference. That is where the purpose of the sustainable development of the mineral industry lies.    The representatives from the Ministry of Land and Resources agree with the ideas of Jihad Griham. Chen Yong, Associate Counsel of the dept. of international Cooperation and science & technology from the Ministry of Land and Resources PRC took the seat in front of the exhibition board of the South Africa Mining Indaba 2012, giving careful description of the managerial functions of the Ministry of Land and Resources. When it came to the similarities between China and South Africa, he thinks that those common things can lay solid foundation for both sides to cooperate in the mining industry. Jihad Griham told the visiting Chinese guests that two representatives of his side attended the China International Mining Conference. Chen Yong invites and hopes that more representatives from South Africa can come to attend CHINA MINING 2012.    Under the leadership of the government, the Chinese enterprises are encouraged to “go global and bring home” to launch the efficient international cooperation. In this term, Chinese mining enterprises and the counterparts from South Africa share the common ground. Shortly after Jihad Griham expressed his hope that using the government-led cooperation promotes the exchange and development of private enterprises, the officials of the Science & Technology Development Office of South Africa Ministry of Mineral Resources takes the representatives of the company from which they purchased the mining right in uranium ore to pay a visit. Both sides established a block of space for both government officials and enterprises to sit together, exchanging about projects. “We hope that Chinese government can help find the proper mining industry investors”. The officials of the South Africa Ministry of Mineral Resources sat in between the representatives of South African enterprises and those from Chinese government, having been encouraging that mining right owner to give detailed introduction to the Chinese delegation. The phenomenon of “government establishing platform for enterprises to play” with Chinese characteristics also occurs in the South Africa Mining Indaba. (By Zhao Fan)

Premier Wen Jiabao: China Bears no Discrimination against Foreign Enterprises in Rare Earth
Source: Portals of Ministry of Land and Resources   Citation: Xinhua Net   Date: Feb. 4, 2012

On February 3, premier Wen Jiabao paying a visit in Guangdong and German Prime Minister Merkel chaired the symposium with Chinese and German entrepreneurs in Guangzhou. (Photographed by Xinhua News Agency Reporter Liu Dawei)

Report on February 3 at news.cn (Reporters Tan Jingjing, Zhen Tianhong) The State Council Premier Wen Jiabao refutes the idea on China restricting the export of rare earth, saying that China bears no discrimination against the foreign enterprises. Regarding the issue of rare earth supply, Chinese enterprises and foreign enterprises enjoy the same criteria and quotas. Wen Jiabao and German Prime Minister Merkel held the symposium with Chinese and German enterprises in Guangzhou on the afternoon of the third. When replying to the German enterprises about China’s policy to restrict the export of rare earth, Premier Wen made the above statement. He said that China has exploited lots of rare earth over the past decades, failing to protecting the resources, environment and ecology and to maintain the sustainable development, and that the rare earth is priced quite low. Not until now do we realize that the development of rare earth can be sustainable. Still, we now supply rare earth for 90% of the global rare earth customers with less than 50% of global rare earth reserve. Wen stresses that Chinese government bears no discrimination against foreign enterprises concerning the export of rare earth. As regard the issue of protecting environment and ecology and maintaining the sustainable development as well as the supply of rare earth, Chinese government treats Chinese enterprises and foreign enterprises alike in the criteria and quotas. From January to November, 2011, the total of rare earth exported from China amounted to 14,750 tons, accounting for 49% of the export quota for the entire year, leaving the major of the quota in idle use. The main reason is the greatly increased price, forcing customers to transfer to other alternative products and reduce the need for rare earth.