Exclusive-Canada will not retrospectively target Chinese investments in Canadian mining companies, minister says
TORONTO : Canada will not force Chinese state-investors in three of its large mining companies to divest stakes, as such a move would create policy uncertainty, natural resources minister told Reuters.
In November, Canada had asked three Chinese companies to sell their stakes in Toronto-listed lithium explorers following a national security review, drawing criticism from the mining industry and raising questions about the future of other Chinese investments in Canadian mining sector.
"If you start looking backwards at investments, it will create all kinds of uncertainty about whether an investment is ever really an investment," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview late on Tuesday on the sidelines of Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto.
Three of Canada's largest mining companies - Teck Resources, Ivanhoe Mines Limited and First Quantum Minerals Limited, - count Chinese state-owned enterprises as their biggest single shareholder.
This is the first time Canadian government officials have clarified what the future holds for other Chinese investments in the three Canadian mining companies.
According to Refinitiv data, the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp owns 10.3 per cent stake in Teck, China's state-owned CITIC Metal Group owns 26 per cent in Ivanhoe Mines while China's largest copper producer Jiangxi Copper Corp Ltd owns 18.3 per cent in First Quantum Minerals.
