Back in 2009, when China’s economy was expanding at about twice today’s pace, a little-known private firm made a quiet bet on uncharted territory: Indonesia.The company was on a quest: to secure nickel, a vital industrial metal used in stainless steel production and, increasingly, to power advanced batteries.That bet proved lucrative. By leveraging Indonesia’s vast nickel reserves – the world’s largest – and securing greater control over upstream supplies, Tsingshan Group has grown into a leading global stainless steel producer. It joined the Forbes Global 500 in 2021, and in 2025 generated 432 billion yuan (US$63.8 billion) in revenue, with operations spanning from Zimbabwe to the United States.The company, founded in Wenzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, is one of a growing number of Chinese enterprises helping to forge deeper trade and industrial ties between the world’s second-largest economy and Southeast Asia’s largest.What began as a push to secure raw minerals has evolved into a broader commercial relationship spanning resources, downstream metal processing, manufacturing and, most recently, financial services – though one increasingly shaped by Jakarta’s shifting domestic priorities.“Indonesia provides the resources, while China contributes capital, technology and manufacturing expertise, creating an increasingly integrated economic ecosystem,” said Zhao Xijun, a finance professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing.Chasing the battery boom