Rethinking Investments in Natural Resources: China's Emerging Role in the Mekong Region

This report examines China's economic engagement with Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, highlighting a trade structure dominated by Chinese imports of natural resources and exports of manufactured goods, and the increasing role of Chinese state-owned enterprises in the region's extractive sectors.

• China provides significant foreign aid to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, typically without major conditions. While this aid generally focuses on construction, education, and infrastructure, it is linked to hydropower projects specifically in Cambodia.
• Trade between China and Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam is characterized by China importing natural resources and exporting manufactured goods, a pattern that differs from China's more complex, less resource-intensive trade with Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
• Chinese state-owned enterprises are primary drivers of natural resource extraction in the region, dominating hydropower projects and providing capital for agricultural inputs in Cambodia and Laos, while expanding into mineral exploitation across all three nations.
• Despite efforts to adopt international best practices and green credit policies to improve its global profile, many Chinese state-owned companies in the hydropower and mining sectors maintain poor environmental and social track records internationally.

APA

IISD,, H. B. S. W. (2009). Rethinking Investments in Natural Resources: China's Emerging Role in the Mekong Region. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/rethinking-investments-natural-resources-chinas-emerging-role-mekong-region-0

Chicago

IISD,, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, WWF,. Rethinking Investments in Natural Resources: China's Emerging Role in the Mekong Region. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/rethinking-investments-natural-resources-chinas-emerging-role-mekong-region-0.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=IISD, |first1=Heinrich Böll Stiftung, WWF, |title=Rethinking Investments in Natural Resources: China's Emerging Role in the Mekong Region |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2 February 2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/rethinking-investments-natural-resources-chinas-emerging-role-mekong-region-0 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{iisd2009rethinking, author = {IISD,, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, WWF,}, title = {{Rethinking Investments in Natural Resources: China's Emerging Role in the Mekong Region}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/rethinking-investments-natural-resources-chinas-emerging-role-mekong-region-0}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }