The BBC World Service has announced the creation of the Global China Unit, a new team that will focus on reporting stories on the country’s role in the world.
The team will produce a range of original journalism that will be available on the World Service and wider BBC platforms. It will look to answer how China’s economic rise and global influence impacts the rest of the world through analytical, investigative and human interest stories.
Liz Gibbons, BBC Executive News Editor, says: “It is becoming harder than ever to tell the story of China within China, so the formation of this unit is incredibly important. We have an exceptionally talented team who will focus their expertise to uncover a range of stories that look at how China is changing the world.”
The Global China Unit was unveiled as part of a series of events for World Service Presents. There was also a taster of the team’s first piece of work, released today.
The report explores how Chinese companies have taken big stages in mines across the world that extract minerals vital to the green economy. These minerals, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, are crucial for green technology such as electric vehicle batteries.
As Chinese businesses have expanded their investments, they have faced allegations of abuses similar to those often levelled at many other international mining giants. The team spoke to Chinese workers in Argentina and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as local communities there and in Indonesia.
The full report, called Tensions Grow as China Ramps up Mining for Key Minerals Used in Green Tech, can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68896707 and will also feature on TV and radio on BBC World Service platforms this week.
Over the last decade, the BBC World Service has been at the forefront of investigative journalism, holding those in established power to account and exposing crime and corruption.
The launch, at BBC World Service Presents, also saw a panel discuss coverage of the global China story, with Runako Celina, Rachel Cheung and Christian-Geraud Neema, hosted by BBC Asia Pacific Editor Celia Hatton.