China to stockpile critical resources and strengthen energy security to avoid trade shocks

Under the blueprint, Beijing is positioning “key commodities” on the same strategic footing as food and energy security, saying China will take a more active role in strengthening “energy and resource supply security” by “preventing and mitigating major risks in systemically important areas”. To achieve this, the Asian economic giant aims to address “weak links” in its supply chains, which are areas where it relies too heavily on foreign technology or companies. Zhou Yuyuan, deputy director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said these “weak links” were identified by heavy import dependence,…