Advances in Earth Science ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (5): 551-566. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2026.038

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G7 Critical Minerals Strategies: Insights, Implications, and Recommendations for China

Yawei Shao1,2(), Lixian Wang3, Zhiqiang Zhang1,2,3()   

  1. 1.National Science Library (Chengdu), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, China
    2.Department of Information Resources Management, School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    3.Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
  • Received:2026-03-31 Revised:2026-04-29 Online:2026-05-10 Published:2026-07-22
  • Contact: Zhiqiang Zhang E-mail:shaoyawei21@mails.ucas.ac.cn;zhangzq@clas.ac.cn
  • About author:Shao Yawei, research areas include theories, methods, and applications of information science; science and technology strategy and planning. E-mail: shaoyawei21@mails.ucas.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    the Strategic Development Department of the China Association for Science and Technology(HT15022025486)

Yawei Shao, Lixian Wang, Zhiqiang Zhang. G7 Critical Minerals Strategies: Insights, Implications, and Recommendations for China[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2026, 41(5): 551-566.

Global strategic competition in science and technology has intensified, and critical minerals closely related to the development of high-tech industries have become a major focus of competition among major powers. As a result, critical mineral strategies have been successively introduced by leading technological countries in order to enhance the resilience and security of their domestic critical mineral supply chains. The strategic role of critical minerals in global high-technology competition and the energy transition is examined, and the dynamics, overall trends, and evolving logic of G7 critical mineral strategies are systematically reviewed and analyzed. Through policy text analysis, strategic documents, action plans, cooperation agreements, and research reports issued by G7 countries and their major partners have been comprehensively analyzed. It is found that, through alliance-based governance, the expansion of global resource networks, and strategies aimed at reducing dependence on China, the G7 has exerted growing strategic pressure on China’s resource security and industrial supply chains, although divergences of interests remain evident. Overall, an evolutionary trajectory characterized by supply chain securitization, alliance-based cooperation, and rule standardization is observed. Greater efforts should be made to advance strategic mineral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen participation in the reform of global critical mineral governance, improve national strategic mineral development strategies, consolidate China’s leading position and core advantages in critical mineral supply chains, and deepen resource diplomacy with emerging mineral-producing countries. Through these measures, the resilience and security of China’s strategic mineral supply chains could be enhanced, and a more inclusive and stable global governance framework for critical minerals could be advanced.

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