Companies

Mining needs to be more eco-friendly

By Zhang Zhao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-18 15:28

Senior executives of leading mining companies and officers of major financial institutions were on hand for a keynote forum on Nov 17, at the China Mining 2010 Congress and Expo, to discuss global mining developments and global market strategies.

Zhou Zhongshu, president of the China Minmetals Corp, one of the nation's major metal ore suppliers, told the gathering he is "cautiously optimistic" about the future of the mining industry "since many factors influence the global economy.

"Mining supports global economic growth. But it harms the earth and the environment. Many mines end up like scars of the planet," Zhou said.

"It's commonly accepted that the traditional developmental model at the cost of environment is about to be changed into an eco-friendly one."

Xiong Weiping, president of the Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), agreed with Zhou, saying that the fundamental way for his company's future development is to seek new sources to boost growth, with the help of environmentally friendly technologies and greener solutions.

Xiong also encouraged Chinese companies to get involved in international competitions: "China is becoming one of the key players in globalization as well as a major producer, consumer and supplier of global resources.

"With its rapid economic growth in recent years, a number of competitive and trustworthy Chinese enterprises are ready to enter the global market."

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He said that some resources-based multinationals control a majority of the strategic resources worldwide, including oil, gas, iron ore, copper and aluminum.

"Compared with developed markets," he said, "Chinese companies' overseas mergers and acquisitions have just started."

Xiong also called for "commercial, transparent, standardized, market-oriented operations", which, he said, Chinalco has adopted.

Li Tong, executive president of Hong Kong's BOC International Holdings Ltd, a Bank of China subsidiary, pointed out that, with the global mining industry restructuring, new features will appear in financing, with investment banking and securities brokerage services.

"In emerging markets and developing nations, mining industry financing is sharply increasing its scale and global proportions," Li said. "And closer ties between companies and capital markets have led to diversified financing methods."

With Hong Kong's advanced capital market, there will be more cooperation with mining enterprises around the world, she stated.