BloombergNEF’s Energy Transition Investment Trends reviews annual investment figures in the global energy transition, including spending to deploy clean technologies, investment in the clean energy supply chain, equity investment in climate-tech companies, and debt issuance for energy transition purposes.
All four of these indicators moved upward in a year marked by trade disruptions and geopolitical tension, showcasing the energy transition’s resilience.
China dominates global rare earth mining, but undeveloped reserves elsewhere could reshape future supply chains.
Greenland holds an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of rare earth reserves despite having no commercial production.
U.S. President Donald Trump has once again put Greenland at the center of global attention.
His renewed threat to assert U.S. control over the Arctic territory has drawn sharp reactions from European leaders and Denmark, which governs Greenland as an autonomous territory.
While the island’s strategic location is often cited, another underlying motivation is increasingly tied to its vast mineral potential. In particular, Greenland’s rare earth reserves have become a focal point in a world racing to secure critical resources.
This visualization compares rare earth mine production and reserves across countries, placing Greenland’s untapped resources in a global context.
China remains the backbone of the global rare earth market. In 2024, it produced roughly 270,000 metric tons, accounting for well over half of global output.
China also controls the largest reserves, estimated at 44 million metric tons. This combination of scale and integration gives Beijing significant leverage over industries ranging from electric vehicles to defense systems.
Country
Reserves (Metric Tons)
Rare Earth Production 2024 (Metric Tons)
🇨🇳 China
44.0M
270,000
🇧🇷 Brazil
21.0M
20
🇮🇳 India
6.9M
2,900
🇦🇺 Australia
5.7M
13,000
🇷🇺 Russia
3.8M
2,500
🇻🇳 Vietnam
3.5M
300
🇺🇸 United States
1.9M
45,000
🇬🇱 Greenland
1.5M
0
🇹🇿 Tanzania
890K
0
🇿🇦 South Africa
860K
0
🇨🇦 Canada
830K
0
🇹🇭 Thailand
4.5K
13,000
🇲🇲 Myanmar
0
31,000
🇲🇬 Madagascar
0
2,000
🇲🇾 Malaysia
0
130
🇳🇬 Nigeria
0
13,000
🌍 Other
0
1,100
🌐 World total (rounded)
>90,000,000
390,000
Large Reserves, Limited Production Elsewhere
Outside China, many countries with sizable reserves play only a minor role in production.
Brazil holds an estimated 21 million metric tons of rare earth reserves yet produces almost nothing today. India, Russia, and Vietnam show similar patterns.
Why Greenland Matters
Greenland’s estimated 1.5 million metric tons of rare earth reserves exceed those of countries like Canada and South Africa. Yet the island has never had commercial rare earth production.
Environmental protections, infrastructure constraints, and local political opposition have slowed development. Still, as supply chain security becomes a priority for major economies, Greenland’s position is becoming harder to ignore.
Trump’s interest in Greenland is driven by more than symbolism. Rare earths are essential for advanced manufacturing, clean energy technologies, and military hardware. With China firmly entrenched as the dominant supplier, policymakers in Washington are increasingly focused on alternative sources.
CNA Few countries are better prepared against China threatening their rare earth supplies than Japan, says David Fickling for Bloomberg Opinion.
A labourer works at a site of a rare earth metals mine at Nancheng county, Jiangxi province, China, on Mar 14, 2012. (File photo: Reuters)
David Fickling 09 Jan 2026 05:59AM(Updated: 09 Jan 2026 09:30AM)
SYDNEY: To a hammer, every problem is a nail. If your most potent means of geopolitical leverage is threatening supplies of high-strength magnets, rare earth elements will always be the solution.
The most obvious victim of this threat will be rare earth magnets made with the elements neodymium and praseodymium, and increasingly spiced up with rarer samarium, dysprosium and terbium. They’re used everywhere from charging cables to the switchgear in wind turbines to motors powering electric vehicles, missile guidance systems and aircraft flaps.
Going into the 2022 election, improving relations with Southeast Asia was at the top of the foreign policy to-do list for the Australian Labor Party, led by now prime minister Anthony Albanese. While the outgoing Liberal-National coalition government had notched up some achievements in its engagement with the region, there was also a sense of drift. The Pacific Step Up policy had focused on boosting ties with one of Australia’s two near regions, but Southeast Asia had not received the same level of diplomatic focus. Among the Labor Party’s pledges were appointing a special envoy for Southeast Asia, providing A$470 million in new aid to the region, and creating an office for Southeast Asia within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. [1] For the most part, the Albanese government has followed through on its commitment to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia through more active diplomatic outreach, an economic strategy to boost two-way trade and investment, and a more nuanced approach to managing sensitive issues in Australia’s relations with the region, especially China-related issues and Middle East policy.
During the new term of government beginning in 2025, it is likely that the Albanese government will maintain Southeast Asia, along with the Pacific Islands, as a region of high priority. Albanese’s July 2025 John Curtin Oration articulated what he called Labor’s “constructive and creative role” and gave high billing to efforts to intensify economic engagement with Southeast Asia and deepen security cooperation with Indonesia. [2] While other global relationships may fluctuate according to events, the central importance of Southeast Asia within this distinctively Labor worldview suggests that engagement with this region, especially Indonesia, will remain high on Australia’s agenda for the next three years.
This essay analyzes the achievements of the Albanese government in its relations with Southeast Asia. It also assesses the continued challenges Australia faces both in deepening economic relations with the region and in continuing to balance regional ties with the U.S. alliance, especially given a less predictable and more demanding administration in Washington.
[1/3]A logo on a Vinfast electric car and Vietnam’s national flag sticker at the ’80 Years Journey of Independence – Freedom – Happiness’ expo ahead of the country’s Independence Day celebration, at the National Exhibition Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 31, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Summary
Hanoi backs national champions with ‘preferential’ policies
Vingroup encouraged to bid for $70 billion railway, sources say
Central bank, finance ministry, Fitch flag financial risks
China’s unparalleled shipbuilding capacity has the U.S., Japan and its allies — both military and economic — rightly concerned about maritime threats to trade and security. Without a concerted effort and international cooperation to challenge Beijing’s commanding lead in the global shipbuilding industry, those threats will materialize furthering China’s alarming dominance.
According to 2024 data from the Chinese government, the country ranks first worldwide in ship completions, new orders and order backlogs — claiming global shares of 55.7%, 74.1% and 63.1%, respectively. China is also expanding its capabilities in high value-added vessels, surpassing South Korea and Japan, while consolidating its role as a “shipbuilding superpower.”
Shipbuilding is not merely an economic activity — it underpins both global trade and national defense. Civilian shipbuilding provides the foundation for training engineers and skilled workers essential to naval production. As such, the growth of China’s shipbuilding sector carries profound implications, not only for maritime commerce but also for the international security architecture.
Where Beijing once celebrated its manufacturing and export prowess, it now openly discusses the need to curb “involution”. This is a dramatic departure from its previous stance, says Enodo Economics’ Diana Choyleva.
People browse in electric car showrooms located on the 5th floor in a popular shopping mall in Beijing on Jul 21, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Hu Chushi)
LONDON: For years, Beijing dismissed Western concerns about Chinese overcapacity as protectionist rhetoric. When the United States and European Union complained about cheap Chinese exports flooding global markets, China’s response was predictable: These were simply competitive advantages in a free market economy.
That narrative has now fundamentally shifted. In a remarkable policy U-turn, China has not only started acknowledging the overcapacity problem but is treating it as a national priority that requires urgent intervention.
While there have been signs of this narrative change for a while, the clearest signal of this messaging transformation came through recently on China’s own policy channels.
In July, the Communist Party’s leading journal Qiushi warned that “disorderly competition has destroyed entire industry ecology”. This wasn’t diplomatic language about market dynamics – it was an admission that destructive competition had reached crisis proportions.
China, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are the top three emerging markets by FDI confidence in 2025
Brazil overtook India to take the fourth spot, with both countries making the top five
Domestic economic performance and efficiency of legal and regulatory processes were the top two priorities for FDI investors
Emerging markets often attract foreign investors with prospects for higher economic growth and diversification.
Where are global business leaders placing their foreign direct investment (FDI) bets in 2025?
This chart highlights the top 25 emerging markets by FDI confidence score in 2025, based on a survey conducted by Kearney. The rankings are drawn from responses by 536 senior executives at global companies with annual revenues above $500 million.
China Leads in Foreign Investor Sentiment
China (including Hong Kong) remains the top emerging market for foreign investor confidence in 2025. However, FDI inflows have slowed in recent years, hitting multi-year lows in 2023.
Following China, the UAE and Saudi Arabia also retain their places as the second and third-most favored developing economies for FDI.
Here’s a look at the full list of top emerging markets for FDI confidence in 2025:Search:
Rank
Country
FDI Confidence Score
1
China (including Hong Kong) 🇨🇳🇭🇰
1.97
2
United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
1.86
3
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
1.76
4
Brazil 🇧🇷
1.59
5
India 🇮🇳
1.53
6
Mexico 🇲🇽
1.51
7
South Africa 🇿🇦
1.48
8
Poland 🇵🇱
1.46
9
Argentina 🇦🇷
1.46
10
Thailand 🇹🇭
1.45
Brazil and India—two of the biggest emerging economies by GDP—round out the top five, with Brazil overtaking India in FDI confidence in the 2025 rankings.
These rankings align with investors’ FDI priorities from the same survey, where the efficiency of legal and regulatory processes and domestic economic performance top the list.
South Africa made the largest upward move in 2025, jumping from 11th to 7th in the rankings. It also recorded FDI inflows of around $661 million in Q1 2025, up 56% from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Overall, 11 of the top 25 emerging markets for FDI confidence are in Asia and the Middle East.
What’s Driving Investor Confidence?
The factors driving FDI confidence vary for each economy.
In China, tech innovation was the leading driver of investor confidence, while economic performance ranked highest for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the talent/skill of the labor pools in India and Mexico were the strongest factors attracting investors.
CVD 