US Lawmakers Urged to Stop China’s Critical Minerals ‘Exploitation’ of DR Congo

House subcommittee hears that the cobalt-rich African nation’s population is suffering as ruling elites and their partners profit

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s biggest source of cobalt, a vital component of the batteries used in electric vehicles and phones, accounting for around 70 per cent of global production. Photo: AFP

Bochen Hanin Washington

Published: 1:03pm, 26 Mar 2025Updated: 2:19pm, 26 Mar 2025

Witnesses at a US House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday urged Washington to step in to counter what they described as China’s exploitation of corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Their testimony comes at the same time as US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a deal with the Central African nation to combat China’s dominance in the minerals supply chain.

“The biggest obstacle to eliminating mining abuses is the system of kleptocracy in the DRC,” said Sasha Lezhnev, a policy adviser at The Sentry, a Washington-based non-profit founded in 2016 by George Clooney and other Hollywood stars.

Lezhnev told the subcommittee hearing convened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that “the system of state capture allows ruling elites and their commercial partners to personally profit while leaving the population to suffer”.

The US should take steps to stop China’s “illicit exploitation” in the country, he added.

DR Congo is by far the world’s biggest source of cobalt, a vital component of the batteries used in electric vehicles and phones, accounting for around 70 per cent of global production.

The country, which is also a key source of copper and a dozen other critical metals and rare earth minerals, has attracted multibillion-dollar Chinese investments as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Between 2000 and 2021, Chinese state-owned creditors approved 19 loan commitments worth about US$12.85 billion for cobalt-copper mines in DR Congo, according to AidData, a research lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

The Joe Biden administration also sought access to minerals, pledging to fund a railway and logistics project connecting DR Congo and resource-rich Zam­bia with Angola in 2024.

During Biden’s presidency, Washington also signed an agreement with both countries to provide funding and expertise for their mining industries.

The Trump administration also appears interested, with the State Department telling Reuters earlier this month that it was open to a minerals deal with DR Congo.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has offered Trump mining opportunities in exchange for a formal security pact.

Tshisekedi’s spokeswoman Tina Salama said in a social media post in February that such an offer had been made, but did not mention any requests for security help.

Rebel activity led by the Rwanda-backed M23 group in DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has complicated the situation for investors and drawn comparisons to Ukraine – where Trump is also considering a minerals deal.

Analysts have warned that extracting minerals from Ukraine would be extremely difficult without peace in the country.

Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican chair of the Africa subcommittee convening the hearing, said on Tuesday that a minerals deal with DR Congo was “an opportunity to strengthen collaboration and [secure] resources essential for our technological advancement and national security”.

But he did not address details of what any security assistance might involve or how the US could help to end conflict in the country.

Instead, Smith stressed allegations of abuses committed by Chinese companies in Africa’s mining sector, including environmental degradation and forced labour. He also highlighted a bill that he introduced on Monday seeking to prevent goods made with or containing cobalt refined in China from entering the US.

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China’s “monopoly over the output and processing of African minerals resources ensures that these abuses continue unchecked”, he said. “The entire supply chain is built on violence, exploitation and corruption.”

Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat and ranking member of the subcommittee, emphasised the need to tackle the systemic factors driving abusive practices in the mining sector.

“Exploitation has emanated from not just Chinese companies, but from other foreign companies too,” she said. “So if we’re serious about preventing and addressing exploitation in this sector, we need to address the core drivers, rather than just focus on one specific actor.”

Obert Bore of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association said that with Kinshasa’s apparent willingness to negotiate a deal with the US, Washington had an opportunity to set “preconditions” to ensure that minerals extraction could safely proceed.

Witnesses on Tuesday made other recommendations on how the US could help in promoting better standards in the region and reduce China’s role in the minerals supply chain.

Thierry Dongala, founder of due diligence firm Accountable Africa, said the US should encourage the issuance of treasury department licences to mineral traders who adhered to high accountability standards and reverse the many years of its “all stick and no carrot” approach.

“US sanctions in Africa have driven away compliance-friendly trade financiers and allowed China to monopolise artisanal gold mining in Africa,” he said.

Lezhnev of The Sentry said the US should push Chinese companies to provide comprehensive disclosures of their mining contracts, as well as place more sanctions on individuals and companies involved in corrupt activities, including key Chinese middlemen.

In January, three Chinese citizens were sentenced to seven years in prison in DR Congo and ordered to pay US$600,000 in fines for illegally exploiting mineral resources in the country.