Chinese-linked abuses in the global transition minerals rush have surged 190 per cent over the past five years, jumping from 51 allegations in 2021 to 148 in 2025, according to a new report by a United Kingdom-based nonprofit.
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The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC) study found a total of 434 allegations of human rights and environmental harm tied to Chinese overseas investments in transition minerals between 2021 and 2025, with cases rising every year as the Asian super power consolidates its dominance across mining, processing and clean-tech manufacturing.
The highest number of cases was recorded in Asia Pacific, the bulk of which were from Indonesia, with 96 allegations — the highest globally — followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Serbia and Zimbabwe.
Overall, majority of the claims relate to impacts involving local communities, with the most salient risks affecting livelihoods, personal health and land rights, alongside serious risks to workers and environmental damage, including water, soil and air pollution and breaches of environmental safety standards.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy and a key investment hotspot for Chinese nickel firms, now has about 75 per cent of its nickel refining capacity linked to Chinese companies and accounts for 90 of the 96 allegations recorded in the country between 2023 and 2025.
There has been an increase of human rights and environmental abuse allegations over the past five years, from 51 in 2021 to 148 in 2025, adding up to a total of 434 cases for the period. Most allegations were concentrated in Asia and the Pacific (142 allegations) with Indonesia recording almost half of the cases. Image: BHRC
Over the past decade, this fast-growing nickel sector has turned Indonesia into the world’s dominant producer and a crucial node in global electric vehicle and battery supply chains, driving a rapid build-out of industrial parks and processing hubs.
Yet the BHRC study found that this expansion is closely intertwined with entrenched labour and environmental harms, pointing to systemic governance failures across the mineral supply chain.
The report highlighted how Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) has rapidly expanded its nickel processing capacity through investments from Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery materials supplier CNGR Advanced Material Co. and steel giant Tsingshan Group, while Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park has announced a 4,400-acre expansion backed by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Vale and Ford.
Together, these projects illustrated a deepening convergence between EV manufacturers, mining companies and midstream nickel processors across Indonesia’s transition minerals sector, amplifying the human rights and environmental risks associated with Chinese-linked investments.
“As processing capacity rises, demand for ore has pushed mining into previously off-limits reserves, including permits issued on small islands under 2,000 square kilometres and a roughly 4,000 per cent surge in nickel ore imports from the Philippines, raising cumulative risks across the wider supply chain,” said BHRC researchers.
Meanwhile, the number of allegations in Myanmar more than doubled over the period, driven by the rapid expansion of illegal rare earth mining and clashes around Wanbao’s Letpadaung copper mine, according to the report.
Rare earth extraction backed by opaque Chinese-linked interests has spread from Kachin into Shan State, triggering cross-border water contamination that threatens communities across the Mekong region, the report added.
China touts human rights and “green mining” pledges
The surge in recorded abuses comes despite a flurry of new Chinese regulations and international initiatives on responsible mineral supply chains, said the BHRC study.
In 2025, China took the lead at the G20 in launching the International Initiative on Green Mining and Minerals, which is meant to promote greener mining and ensure that benefits reach vulnerable groups such as women and Indigenous communities, not only governments and investors.
More recently, Beijing’s latest National Human Rights Action Plan explicitly commited to strengthening corporate social responsibility, aligning with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and improving companies’ ability to spot and address human rights risks in their operations.
The plan included a dedicated section on getting corporations to actually live up to these human rights responsibilities, signaling that, at least on paper, human rights are now part of China’s official framework for governing its transition mineral supply chains.
BHRC noted that several Chinese companies surveyed in the report showed responsiveness to human rights abuse allegations, although other Chinese mining and metals companies still appear to turn a “blind eye” to these issues, highlighting need for improved transparency as the first step in accountability, the study read.
Alarmingly, the three companies connected to the highest number of allegations all have public human rights policies in place, raising critical questions about policy implementation and commitment, the study said.
“Given their central role in energy transition supply chains, Chinese companies have the influence to help drive a just and fair transition,” said the report. “However, this will not happen without urgent, proactive and concrete action by companies and regulators to confront the persistent environmental and social harms linked to transition minerals.”
