H.R. 8621: China-Africa Mining Transparency Act

This bill would require the Secretary of State to publish a public list each year for five years identifying certain People’s Republic of China-linked entities involved in mining in parts of Africa. The list would cover entities that the Secretary reasonably believes are:

• mining critical minerals, gold, or iron in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, or other African countries;
• doing so with forced labor; or
• doing so in a way that causes environmental harm to protected areas.

What gets listed

For each case, the Department of State would have to identify:

• the PRC-linked entity involved;
• the mine, mining zone, or concession where the activity is occurring.

The bill defines PRC-linked entities broadly. This includes entities controlled by the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, or Chinese military/intelligence bodies, as well as companies organized under Chinese law, and their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, contractors, and certain joint ventures.

How the list would be made

In preparing the annual list, the State Department would have to use publicly available sources such as:

• press reports;
• academic and nonprofit research;
• other non-state research;
• information gathered by U.S. embassies.

The department would also have to consult with other U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Commerce, and Treasury, the Director of National Intelligence, and, where applicable, counterparts in the relevant African countries.

Public disclosure

The list would have to be:

• submitted to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee;
• made publicly available online;
• issued in unclassified form, though a classified annex could be included for Congress if needed.

Bottom line

The bill is mainly a transparency and reporting measure. It does not itself impose penalties, sanctions, or trade restrictions. Instead, it directs the State Department to compile and publish an annual list of Chinese-linked mining entities in Africa that are associated with forced labor or environmental damage in protected areas.

Relevant Companies

None found