A Voracious Dragon?

Economic growth in China has had a major impact on global commodity markets. The Chapter documents the significance of China in terms of its share of global consumption and world imports of a number of commodities, as well as China’s dependence on such imports. This shows that there is considerable variation between different commodities, with China being particularly important for minerals and metals. Chinese demand has had an impact on commodity prices and was one factor that contributed to the commodity boom of 2002–11. Non-price aspects of Chinese involvement are also discussed, including Chinese strategies to secure resources; Chinese policies to encourage processing at home; and the specific characteristics of the Chinese market in terms of social and environmental standards.