China’s new law on exploration and exploitation of resources in the International Seabed Area of 2016

• Main Authors: LIU, Nengye, KIM, Rakhyun
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Environmental Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4126; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/6084/viewcontent/LiuKim2016.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Despite its rich metallic mineral resources on land,1 the People’s Republic of China (China) has been actively exploring for deep seabed minerals in the international seabed area (the Area).2 The legal framework is provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC).3 China and the Russian Federation are the only States currently sponsoring exploration of all three types of deep seabed mineral deposit in the Area (polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, seafloor massive sulphides in the South West Indian Ridge, the Central Indian Ridge, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the Western Pacific Ocean). The China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA), which China has been sponsoring, is the only contractor (out of 25) currently operating in the Area with all three mineral deposit types.4 Moreover, China began sponsoring another polymetallic nodule exploration in 2015 through a State-owned enterprise called China Minmetals Corporation, thereby becoming one of the few States sponsoring more than one contractor.5 Until recently, however, China had not adopted laws and regulations and administrative measures, which the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea affirmed as necessary for a sponsoring State to adopt in order to ensure compliance with its international obligations.6 In 2016, shortly before COMRA’s first exploration contract expired,7 the National People’s Congress passed the Law on Exploration and Exploitation of Resources in the Area (Deep Seabed Mining Law) to regulate Chinese activities in the Area.8 This Note explores the Deep Seabed Mining Law in the context of China’s shifting interests in the Area since the 1970s.9 It serves as a general overview of the Deep Sea Mining Law and provides a critical assessment of China’s latest position on the deep seabed regime in the LOSC as a sponsoring State.