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…