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Phase of Transformation From Receiving Foreign Assistance to Providing Assistance to Foreign Countries (1957~1971)

The external cooperation of this phase was characterized by a gradual transformation from receiving assistance from other countries to providing assistance to other countries and from cooperating with the former USSR and East European countries to cooperating with the third-world countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Following the rehabilitation of the national economy and the successful accomplishment of the First Five-Year Plan, the national economy scored considerable development, some construction experience was preliminarily accumulated and a group of specialized technical personnel grew up and played an increasingly greater role in mineral activities. With large numbers of technical specialists in possession, China began to dispatch geologists to other countries such as Cuba, Mongolia and Cambodia at the invitation of their respective governments to assist them in carrying out geological and mineral reconnaissance and prospecting from 1957. Then from 1962 on, the Sino-USSR cooperative activities greatly diminished due to the twists and turns in the relationship between the two countries on the one hand, and China's external cooperation and intercourse in mineral industry got strengthened as a result of the development of the relations between China and over 30 third-world countries on the other hand. China's cooperation with third-world countries in mineral industry covered two areas:¢Ù dispatching experts to help recipient countries to conduct mineral resources exploration so as to prepare raw materials bases for mine construction;¢Ú dispatching specialists and drilling teams to assist recipient countries in the search and development of groundwater so as to help overcome the difficulties in the use of water for industrial and agricultural production and the livelihood of the local people. Starting from the 60s, with the cooperation and exchange with the third-world countries strengthened, China's Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources successively sent out 128 groups and operation teams to 37 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to assist in looking for groundwater and well drilling and completion and accomplished 165 operation projects with 738 wells completed. In the process of completing these projects the Chinese engineers and technicians implemented strictly and conscientiously the Chinese government's principles and policies on external cooperation, observed the laws, customs and habits of the recipient countries, paid due attention to the training of local technical forces, transferred to them the technologies for groundwater search and well drilling and completion without reservation, and thus were highly evaluated and appreciated by the recipient countries.

Phase of Initial Bidirectional Cooperation (1972~1978)

As an important feature of China's external cooperation and intercourse, this period witnessed the successive restoration of China's legitimate seat in the United Nations and the legitimate seat of the Geological Society of China in the International Union of Geological Sciences, which created favorable conditions for the expansion of the external cooperation and exchange in the mineral industry. The external cooperation of this phase consisted mainly of the following aspects: ¢Ùcontinued cooperation with third-world countries in the fields of geology, mineral resources, hydrogeology and engineering geology in the form of external economic assistance projects; ¢Ú signing and implementation of long-range agreements on scientific and technological cooperation in geology with a number of developed countries in Europe, America and Oceania (Australia) and introduction of some complete sets of equipment and instruments applied to geological researches and mineral exploration and development from abroad; ¢Ûparticipation in a number of international conferences or multilateral cooperative meetings related to geology and mining; and ¢Ümutual exchange of visits of governmental geological and mining delegations.

Phase of Comprehensive External Cooperation (1979-present)

Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, as a result of the implementation of the principle of opening wider to the outside world on the front of the mineral industry, three big strides have been made in China's international cooperation in the mineral industry, thus ushering in a completely new phase of comprehensive external cooperation. In this phase the external cooperation has developed ¢Ù from the scientific and technological cooperation and exchange in geology and mining with a small number of countries to the all-directional cooperation and exchange with all countries of the world, ¢Ú from the scientific-technological cooperation and exchange in mining to both scientific-technological and economic cooperation and exchange in mining , and ¢Û from undertaking mineral exploration and development activities in China by using foreign funds, technology and talants to conducting cooperation in mining abroad by both 'inviting in' and 'walking out', i.e., Chinese mining enterprises going to other friendly countries to explore and develop mineral resources China is short of by using their own talants, equipment, technology and funds.