The Canadian government ordered three Chinese companies to divest their investments in Canadian lithium mining and critical minerals last week on the grounds of national security, according to reports.
Reuters reported the three companies are Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare Metals Resources Co Ltd, Chengze Lithium International Ltd, also based in Hong Kong, and Zangge Mining Investment (Chengdu) Co Ltd.
The Canadian government ordered the move after its national security and intelligence carried out “rigorous scrutiny”, said Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the Canadian government was using national security as a pretext to block normal cooperation between Chinese and Canadian companies. That is damaging global supply chains, he said.
The Canadian government said last month it had to build a resilient critical minerals supply chain with like-minded partners and protect the country’s critical minerals sectors from foreign state-owned companies.
The US State Department said in June the US and others formed a Minerals Security Partnership aimed at securing the supply of critical minerals. Partners include Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, the US and the European Commission.
Photo: Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne ordered three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian lithium mining and critical minerals