From The Australian:
CHINA, which learnt so swiftly and adeptly to attract global investment and become the world’s factory, is now at the start of another stiff learning curve: making its own vast capital savings work for it overseas, to bring home both profits and much prized resources.
During the eight-nation tour of Africa he is just winding up, Jintao attracted incipient demonstrations branding China as “neocolonialist”, as its corporations assume from Western rivals the role of leading exploiters of mineral and oil wealth. In Australia, Chinese companies have so far – through, for instance, the conglomerate Citic – mostly taken minority stakes in projects. From participating at board level and, in some instances, in management and on the ground, they have learnt how to operate successfully in a Western environment.
By far the biggest Chinese-run project in Australia’s neighbourhood is the $1 billion Ramu nickel project in Papua New Guinea. It is a greenfield development being run by Metallurgical Group Corp (known as MCC), which is China’s 39th biggest company and the world’s 26th biggest contractor, earning $15 billion in revenue during 2006. [Full Text]
