Mining companies facing stiff CSR challenges, says report

Mining and extraction companies are accelerating their overseas sales and investment plans, on the back of two key government-led sources of potential funding - the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, according to a new report.

Last year Chinese investors ploughed $116 billion directly into 6,128 overseas companies in 156 countries or regions, according to the study, called Transparency and Risk Management for Chinese Extractive Industry's Overseas Investment, which is supported by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development.

Reporting on the findings, the 21st Century Business Herald said Chinese enterprises are facing more intense international competition as they go global, and rising scrutiny of their social responsibility provisions, particularly in the so-called extractive industries, or those which involve the removal of raw materials from the earth to be used by consumers.