The United States and its Western partners are accelerating development of the “Lobito Corridor,” a major railway and logistics route linking Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito with the copper and cobalt mining regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. According to South Africa’s Daily Maverick, the corridor bypasses South Africa’s traditional port network and offers a shorter, more reliable export route for strategic minerals to Atlantic markets. Analysts view the initiative as part of a Western effort to reshape African supply chains and reduce China’s dominance over critical minerals and Belt and Road infrastructure across the continent.

Africa holds roughly 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, including major shares of cobalt, chromium, manganese, gold, and platinum-group metals. China has long expanded its influence through infrastructure-for-resources agreements, financing railways and ports in exchange for mining access. Chinese firms are also increasingly investing in local refining and processing facilities, shifting from simple resource extraction toward vertically integrated mineral supply chains.

Since 2023, the United States and the European Union have backed the Lobito Corridor with more than $2.7 billion in investment, aiming to establish alternative supply chains for critical minerals and challenge China’s dominant position in Africa’s mining logistics network.

Source: Epoch Times, May 27, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/5/26/n14774871.htm

At the “Second EU–China Relations Forum,” hosted by the Delegation of the European Union to China on May 12, European and Chinese participants openly clashed over trade imbalances, market access, and “protectionism,” highlighting the increasingly strained state of EU–China economic relations.

During a panel discussion on EU–China trade ties, Jens Eskelund, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, criticized China for heavily exporting goods to Europe while simultaneously accusing the EU of protectionism. He described the relationship as “a 400-meter-long container ship” arriving in Europe fully loaded but returning “almost empty,” underscoring European concerns over unequal trade flows and limited reciprocity.

Jian Junbo of the Fudan University Center for China-Europe Relations responded that EU “decoupling” policies were regrettable and called on both sides to jointly oppose protectionism.

Tensions escalated further when Jorge Toledo, the European Union’s Ambassador to China, stated that the EU’s proposed Industrial Acceleration Act had faced widespread criticism from Chinese media and officials. A Chinese participant then accused Toledo of “bullying.” Spanish economist Alicia Garcia-Herrero defended the ambassador, arguing that it was inappropriate to accuse the EU envoy of bullying at a conference organized by the EU itself.

Source: Epoch Times, May 20, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/5/19/n14768745.htm