The world in their hands

 China’s obsession with going out in search of raw materials has been growing for almost two decades. In 1993 the country became a net importer of oil. In 2003 it interpreted America’s invasion of Iraq as a grab for oil. And in 2010 it became the world’s biggest consumer of energy. This obsession has dominated foreign policy and reinforced state capitalism. A country that had been turned inward for millennia has started popping up everywhere, and has found that it can change the rules of the game. An economy that had been focused on domestic growth has engaged in a flurry of international acquisitions.


China has been striking deals across the world, often in difficult places that are shunned by the West, in order to lock up supplies of oil and other raw materials. It has an estimated 10,000 workers in Sudan alone. It has provided Russia with a $25 billion export-backed loan to help Rosneft and Transneft to supply it with 300,000 barrels per day of crude, for example, and signed a $1.7 billion deal with Iran to develop parts of the North Azadegan oilfields. China National Petroleum Corporation is one of only two companies to win contracts to develop Iraq’s oilfields. And in December Pakistan named the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to lead a consortium that will finance a $1.2 billion natural-gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan. Read more on the Economist