Beijing has called on the international community to address the root causes of the prolonged instability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), stressing that the illegal extraction of natural resources remains a key driver of the crisis in the Great Lakes region.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Friday, 26 June, China’s permanent representative, Fu Cong, noted that “the conflict in eastern DRC persists and the Ebola outbreak has resurfaced, further worsening the security and humanitarian situation in the country.” He urged global actors to “work together to reverse the current trend as quickly as possible.”
The Chinese envoy then emphasised the need to tackle the economic underpinnings of the war.
“The deep-seated causes of the conflict must be addressed promptly and comprehensively. The DRC’s vast natural wealth should have driven national development, but instead it is being looted by armed groups and trafficked, fuelling the violence,” Fu Cong declared.
For Beijing, improving governance in the mining sector is a crucial step toward restoring peace. Fu Cong affirmed that “China supports regional countries in establishing transparent and inclusive mining cooperation to break the cycle of illicit trade.”
The Chinese representative also urged the Security Council to bolster support for regional initiatives. He stated that “the Council should back regional organisations and mechanisms to enhance transparency and traceability in the export of these resources.”
Fu Cong further called on outside actors to adopt a more cooperative approach.
“Major powers from outside the region should refrain from using natural resources as a bargaining chip in settling regional problems. We must promote open cooperation, free from zero-sum logic, so that local populations benefit from the development and exploitation of natural resources,” he stressed.
The decades-long war and instability in eastern DRC are closely tied to economic predation. Armed groups, including the AFC/M23, control strategic mining sites such as Rubaya, fuelling a lucrative illicit mineral trade with neighbouring countries. Congolese authorities say this deprives the state of substantial tax revenue and severely hampers development in the eastern provinces. Kinshasa has long argued that the conflict is essentially an “economic war” waged by Rwanda through what it calls “proxies,” an accusation Kigali consistently denies.
To help resolve the crisis, the United States brokered the Washington Agreement between the DRC and Rwanda. That text aims to address both security concerns and the economic dimensions of resource exploitation. However, implementation has been slow, and both Kinshasa and Kigali accuse each other of failing to honour commitments, with differing interpretations of several clauses. Similarly, the Doha process, led by Qatar, which seeks direct dialogue between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23, has seen limited progress despite multiple rounds of talks, leaving the security situation on the ground largely unchanged.
