Since 2023, Nicaragua has granted Chinese mining companies nearly 80 gold exploration concessions covering an area equivalent to roughly one-tenth of the country, boosting Beijing’s presence in Central America’s minerals sector over the past three years.
Concessions cover 1.4 million hectares
An analysis of Nicaraguan government data showed that the area covered by exploration and development concessions granted to Chinese companies is equivalent to the area of Northern Ireland. Sixteen Chinese companies, most of them small and medium-sized firms, received new concessions whose combined area exceeded that granted to all other mining companies combined.
The concessions come as the United States expands its mining activities in the Western Hemisphere, while China strengthens its economic ties with Nicaragua, one of its closest partners in the region.
Gold accounts for around 20% of exports
Gold is an important part of Nicaragua’s economy, accounting for around 20% of the country’s total exports last year. Research consultancy Metals Focus estimates Nicaragua’s underground gold resources at around 250 tonnes.
Nicaragua’s gross domestic product stood at around $22 billion in 2025, according to World Bank data, while its exports totaled around $7.4 billion in the same year.
Chinese financing exceeds $1 billion
Nicaragua has secured more than $1 billion in Chinese financing for infrastructure, energy and telecommunications projects, alongside projects including ports on its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, the development of a major airport and a highway.
Chinese companies are helping modernize Punta Huete Airport near the capital, Managua, at a cost of $500 million. China said its partnership with Nicaragua had undergone “tremendous development” since bilateral relations were restored in 2021, the year Managua withdrew its recognition of Taiwan.
China’s economic expansion comes as individuals linked to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government have been under U.S. sanctions since 2017.
China continues to build up its gold reserves
China is the world’s largest gold producer and views bullion as a strategic asset because of its role in central-bank reserves. The People’s Bank of China increased its gold purchases last June, recording its largest monthly addition since October 2023.
The increase extended the People’s Bank of China’s longest consecutive buying streak since at least 2015, after it added gold to its reserves for the 20th consecutive month as part of efforts to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves and reduce reliance on dollar assets.
