What did China gain from the recent G20 Summit in Johannesburg?
- Upamanyu Basu
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
What's happening in Johannesburg?
On 22nd November, G20 Leaders adopted a declaration in Johannesburg Summit 2025 against the backdrop of quite a turbulent geopolitical quagmire. The United States, being the next country to lead the presidency boycotted the meeting, with the Trump Administration citing “persecution of white South Africans” as the reason for its absence. Even though the upcoming presidency of G20 will be handed over to the United States eventually, the formal handing over ceremony did not take place where the events had turned unusual with the host nation South Africa refusing to hand over the rotatory presidency to a “junior” US representative who was the sole attendee from US.
Amid all this diplomatic chaos, the G20 Leaders declaration however, carries significant weight. It addresses an expansive agenda from climate change, AI, digital inclusion, disaster resilience, food crises to critical minerals framework; the declaration had covered all the major global challenges. Yet, a recurring theme in this declaration was the commitment to ‘strengthen multilateralism’. Prime Minister Narenda Modi also took this opportunity to push the call for UNSC reforms during his sideline meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. But the country which capitalized most on Washington’s conspicuous absence was China.
What China seeks to achieve in the G20 ?
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, while addressing the third session of the Summit, cast Beijing as the champion of “multilateralism” while remarking on the promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation and ‘peaceful’ utilization of critical minerals. He added that China supports the UN Secretary General's Panel on Critical Energy Transitional Minerals in playing a constructive role and called for full implementation of the G20 Critical Mineral Framework. Notably he also referenced the ‘potential military applications’ as well of these resources, while citing active participation of all parties in the International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative on Green Mining and Minerals. This was an unusual insertion into a forum which was otherwise reserved for talks on development rather than conventional security.
While using this platform as a pitching table, China unveiled a “green” mining project with 19 nations right after the Summit with “friendly nations” alongside the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. This is supposed to be part of the ‘fair and reasonable’ future of mining critical minerals. The timing and presentation however cannot be just missed. China seems to have used G20 as a launch pad for positioning itself as a steward of an ethical and sustainable guarantor of a rules based mineral ecosystem.
In this backdrop it is interesting to note that it is actually China and the US who are widely accused of using licenses and export controls as choke points against the free flow of the critical minerals supply chain. While the United States is trying to barter a deal with China to prevent shortages of critical minerals for themselves, China uses the G20 stage to emerge as a "responsible" friend trying to push for a ‘transparent and fair’ system of trade, but under Chinese terms.
Even though there were subtle criticisms on China’s “unilateral trade actions”, the diplomatic vacuum left by the United States was far more conspicuous. Its absence was not just a diplomatic miscalculation, but it created an ideal condition for Beijing to expand its narrative and presence. In many ways, it did succeed in putting up a show.
China’s overall flirting with Africa and its critical mineral politics
The Chinese game plan in Africa’s critical minerals landscape is not too difficult to crack- secure long term resource flows and embed Chinese capital deep into the continent's strategic projects. With Beijing already commanding more than 70 % of global rare earth mining and more than 90% processing capabilities, Africa is the next logical frontier. As China seems to present a “friendlier” stance of creating an ‘open and fair’ space of rare earth mining, its intention in Africa is far from being fair or open.
This tendency started to unfold from 2022, when Shenghe Resources, one of China’s rare earth mining and processing companies acquired 19.86% stakes in an Australian company Peak Rare Earths while using a Singaporean subsidiary. This was not just a routine corporate expansion, it opened Beijing into the strategic corridor of Tanzania’s Ngualla rare earth project. Hence the arguments that China wants to dominate Asia is incomplete, these strategic calculations highlight China’s global ambitions to secure Africa’s emerging rare earth renaissance.
Another example of Chinese manoeuvring comes from its involvement in Guinea’s Simandou iron ore project. Valued at 23 billion dollars, it is Guinea’s largest mining project which is projected to quadruple its economy by 2040. In 2019, Chinese-Singaporean Winning Consortium Simandour backed by Baowu Steem and shipping magnate Sun Xiushun took control of this bloc. After constructing a 650 km railway line cutting through Guinea's terrain to the Atlantic coast, this project was dubbed as a mini Belt Road Initiative. The outcome is uncompromising. China successfully carved a pathway to reduce its dependencies on Australia and thereby weaken Canberra’s dominance in the steel industry. In this light, Beijing’s newly announced ‘green mining’ project in Africa must be viewed with caution. The rhetoric of ‘fairness’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘transparency’ has been exploited far too many times considering the Chinese track record of consolidating control and extracting strategic advantage out of it.
As Trump is seen floating the idea of the revival of G2, China has adopted a diplomatically cautious approach and is not shying away from using any advantage which comes its way. Beijing thrives on the idea of parity with the United States, and Trump’s absence from key forums like G20 only makes it easier for China to project itself as a stable and more capable global actor. With the G20 Presidency set to pass to the United States, the coming year will test whether Washington wants to maintain its credibility or give in to short sighted ‘tantrums’. Its obstruction of the current Summit in Johannesburg has already cast doubts of its commitment to the institution. In contrast, China stepped into the void advocating for a multilateral world order while simultaneously creating an expanding influence across the Global South. In a transactional world order, the United States cannot afford to behave like a reluctant and absent power.
This article, written by Upamanyu Basu, Assistant Professor of Political Science in Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies. He is currently pursuing his doctorate from National University of Juridical Sciences, India specializing in South Asian Politics and Conflict Studies. He is associated with International Development and Security Cooperation , Philippines as a Non Resident Fellow.
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