Image Source : China Visual

BEIJING, November 3 (TMTPOST) — The Canadian government issued an order on Wednesday, requiring three Chinese-owned companies to divest their investments in Canadian-listed lithium resource projects.

Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare Metals Resources Co. Ltd. was required to divest in Vancouver-based Power Metals Corp. Chengze Lithium International Ltd. must exit from Calgary-based Lithium Chile Inc. Zangge Mining Investment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., was required to divest from Ultra Lithium Inc., based in Vancouver.

The trio are subsidiaries of listed companies, Sino Resources Mining Corporation, Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group Co., Ltd., and Zangge Mining Co Ltd.

After the announcement, these companies’ share prices fell sharply at the opening on Thursday and then the decline shrunk. By the close of midday trading, Sino Resources Mining Corporation was at 85.05 yuan ($11.6) per share, down 9.62% from the previous trading day. Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group Co., Ltd. was at 45.3 yuan ($6.19) per share, down 0.11% from the previous day. Zangge Mining Co Ltd was at 28.81 yuan ($3.93) per share, up 0.56% from the previous day.

Canadian Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne explained in the statement that according to the Investment Canada Act, foreign investments are subject to scrutiny for national security issues, and investments in key mineral sectors are subject to more stringent scrutiny. These companies were reviewed through the multi-step national security review process, which involves rigorous scrutiny by Canada's national security and intelligence community. As a result of the review, the government ordered the three companies to divest their investments in Canadian companies in the critical minerals sector.

The order follows updated guidelines from Canada's government, released last Friday, which make it harder for foreign state-owned companies to make deals that involve critical minerals including lithium, nickel, copper, and uranium in the resource-rich country.

Transactions by foreign state-owned firms will only get approval "on an exceptional basis," the last Friday statement said.

（1 USD = 7.31736 CNY）