Human rights and environmental harms linked to Chinese companies’ overseas investments in minerals critical to the energy transition are increasing year on year, according to new research published today. The Business and Human Rights Centre documented 326 allegations of abuse between 2023 and 2025, bringing the total recorded since 2021 to 434 allegations across transition mineral projects linked to Chinese companies.

The global spread of Chinese investment in transition mineral mining projects was clearly reflected in the data, with Indonesia recording the highest number of allegations (96), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (52), Myanmar (36), Serbia (32) and Zimbabwe (20). The report highlights how the rapid expansion of investment in minerals essential for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy technologies are intensifying risks for workers, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and the environment. This, combined with an increasingly fraught environment for those being silenced for speaking out against companies, paints a concerning picture in transition mineral supply chains associated with Chinese companies.

The findings show that ten Chinese companies accounted for nearly two thirds (65%) of all allegations recorded between 2021 and 2025. It also found:

• Allegations affected local communities (179), the environment (169) and workers (143), with concerns relating to impacts on livelihoods, health, land rights, occupational health and safety, wages, work-related deaths, water pollution and environmental contamination.
• Between 2023 and 2025, 18 people were attacked for raising concerns about Chinese transition mineral projects, highlighting a growing risk for those speaking out against mining-related harms.
• Extraction remained the highest-risk stage of the supply chain (213 allegations), accounting for two thirds of all recorded allegations between 2023 and 2025 – with significant impacts of water and soil pollution on livelihood and health.
• Meanwhile, occupational health and safety risks were particularly acute in processing, smelting and refining operations, and threats to local communities, as well as Indigenous Peoples, emerged as a significant concern in the project development phase.
• Nickel (91 allegations) overtook copper (72 allegations) as the mineral linked to the greatest number of allegations, driven largely by the rapid expansion of Indonesia's nickel industry and its importance for electric vehicle batteries.
• Substantial increases in allegations were also linked to lithium (39 allegations) – largely associated with impacts on Indigenous Peoples and local communities, alongside severe pressures on water resources in surrounding areas.

Amid these findings, there have been some initial steps towards stronger corporate human rights commitment. Company engagement showed some improvement, with Chinese companies responding to 27% of requests for comment on allegations (up from 18% previously). While avenues to seek remedy for harms remain limited, this increased responsiveness reflects greater transparency – a first step towards corporate accountability.

However, this progress has yet to translate into consistent improvements on the ground. The three companies linked to the highest number of allegations all have public human rights policies in place, raising important questions about implementation.

Michael Clements, Executive Director, Business and Human Rights Centre, said: “China plays a central role in global transition mineral supply chains, and as such has a unique opportunity to raise the bar on human rights and community engagement at every stage of mining. While there have been encouraging developments, from stronger regulations to more company engagement, there remains a gap between human rights commitment and action. Engaging in meaningful stakeholder dialogue and ensuring rights-based operational approaches at all stages of the mining lifecycle are essential, without which Chinese companies will be exposed to serious financial risks, as community and worker resistance leads to litigation, permit withdrawals, work stoppages and strikes.

“Preventing those outcomes and contributing to a just energy transition is possible where operations are grounded in shared prosperity to build public trust, fair negotiations to ensure a stable investment environment, and robust human rights and environmental due diligence to prevent and mitigate harms. In this way, companies can make meaningful progress towards securing resilient supply chains, reducing costly conflict and delivering a truly just energy transition.”

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Notes to editors

• Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse. Find out more about our approach here.
• This report, Shifting ground: Human rights, Chinese investment and the rush for transition minerals, analyses the scale and scope of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese overseas investment in minerals crucial for the energy transition between 2023 and 2025. It follows previous analysis which looked at the same data from 2021 to 2023.