U.S. is losing control of the world's natural wealth to China

China has an insatiable appetite for the world's natural resources to sustain an economic boom that powers ahead despite the global downturn. The quest for raw materials is the central goal of the country's foreign policy. And virtually every natural resource imaginable is found just over the border. Russian far East have large reserves of natural gas, oil, diamonds and gold, while millions of square miles of birch and pine provide supplies of timber. All this amounts to an astonishing combination. A densely packed country trying to keep its economy roaring ahead by laying its hands on natural resources, living alongside a largely empty region with huge mineral wealth and fewer inhabitants every year. Russia and China might operate a tactical alliance, but there is already tension between them over the Far East. Moscow is wary of large numbers of Chinese settlers moving into this region, bringing timber and mining companies in their wake. China has moved aggressively to fill a vacuum left by the United States in recent years, as the U.S. focused on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the global economic crisis sapped its economy. China is rising while the U.S. is declining in Latin America. China is all over this region. They are following a state-driven policy to expand their peaceful presence. China is beefing up its embassies throughout Latin America, opening Confucian centers to expand Chinese culture, sending high-level trade delegations throughout the region and opening the door for ordinary Chinese to visit Machu Picchu, Rio and other tourism hot spots. China Petrochemical Corp., the country’s second-biggest oil company, in June agreed to buy Geneva-based Addax Petroleum Corp. for $7.6 billion in China’s biggest overseas takeover to date. Purchasing Addax, which has oil reserves in Iraq’s Kurdish territory, shows Chinese oil companies are “going for bigger transactions. “These deals seem to reflect an appetite we have not seen before.” The world’s fastest-growing major economy consumes more than a third of the world’s aluminum output, a quarter of its copper production, almost a tenth of its oil and accounts for more than half of trading in iron ore. Last year, China bought $211 billion worth of iron ore, refined copper, crude oil and alumina, according to government data. Australia has signed a record 41.3 billion US dollar deal to supply Chinese energy giant PetroChina with liquefied natural gas, officials said. The agreement, which represents the biggest foreign investment in Australia, is for PetroChina to buy 2.25 million tonnes a year over the next two decades from ExxonMobil's Gorgon gas field. Industry analysts predict that Chinese-financed mergers and acquisitions this year will double their level of $52.1 bn. in 2008 The Chinese are all over the place. China has launched its investment policy because of crippling pressure on its own natural resources in a country where the population has almost trebled from 500 million to 1.3 billion in 50 years. China is hungry - for land, food and energy. While accounting for a fifth of the world's population, its oil consumption has risen in the past decade and Africa is now providing a third of it; imports of steel, copper and aluminum have also risen. China is also desperate for new markets to sell goods. And Africa, with non-existent health and safety rules to protect against shoddy and dangerous goods, is the perfect destination. The result of China's demand for raw materials and its sales of products to Africa is that turnover in trade between Africa and China has risen to billions. China is investing large amounts of money in Iran's energy sector. $70 billion is projected to be invested in gas and oil refineries there.