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Beginning in the late 19th century, China’s mineral wealth served as a powerful lure for explorers, capitalists, and government agents connected to imperial powers. Since that time, Chinese minerals have played a critical role in geopolitics, as various powers have sought to secure access to a steady stream of critical strategic ores, including tungsten and antimony and more recently lithium, and various rare earth metals. For Chinese leaders, the minerals were long used as collateral to secure foreign loans and a commodity that could be turned into quick cash or shipments of industrial products. This talk will focus on how the trans-national institutions and infrastructures developed over the course of the early 20th century to channel strategic minerals from China to industries around the world has served as an essential force in shaping structures of power in the WWII, Cold War, and contemporary periods.

Judd Kinzley is professor of modern Chinese history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research treats borderlands, materiality and natural resources. He is currently working on the transnational exchange of Chinese raw materials for cash, weapons and industrial goods during World War II.