China is set to gain access to sizeable copper deposits in Ecuador following an agreed C$679m (US$652m) cash bid for Vancouver-based Corriente Resources.
The move – by China Railway Construction and Tongling Nonferrous Metals – is the latest in a string of Chinese acquisitions of Canadian resource companies and part of a drive to expand access to metals, oil and other commodities in various parts of the world.
China Railway, the biggest railway builder in China, and Tongling, a large copper miner and processor, said their bid for Corriente was in line with their long-term strategies. China Railway said it had “added development of mineral resources as one of its principal operations”.