In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the national economy was in the recovery period, during which materials were in short supply. To support national economic development, in 1950 and 1952, the Ministry of Foreign Trade successively established China Minerals Company and China Hardware & Electrics Import Company who were the two predecessors of China Minmetals. The two companies were the main channels of China's foreign trade in metals and minerals at that time, with their annual total export-import volume once accounted for 25% of the country's. They played an important role in recovering China's economy, establishing a modern industrial base, supporting agricultural industry and solving shortage supply of market goods.

After entering the stage of reform and opening-up, China gradually deepened the reform of foreign trade management system. As a result, the monopoly advantage of China Minmetals in the traditional trade field had gradually disappeared. In the face of challenges, the company began to explore a path of diversified businesses, industry-oriented transformation and integrated development. While developing foreign trades, it also developed businesses in areas of finance, transportation, warehousing, real estate among others. It is also among the first batch of Chinese enterprises practicing the national strategy of "going global": It successively set up branches and representative offices in over 40 countries and regions. 

In the new century, China Minmetals embarked on a strategic transformation mainly characterized by restructuring and merger & acquisition, and gradually transformed into an industrial group focusing on metal mining. In China, it conducted restructuring of state assets successively with Hanxing Metallurgical Mine Administration, The 23rd Metallurgical Construction Group Co., Ltd. of Minmetals, Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Hunan Nonferrous Group (HNG), Minmetals Luzhong Mining Co., Limited (Minmetals Luzhong) and others. In foreign countries, China Minmetals firmly practiced the strategy of "going global" in resource development and cooperation. In 2009, it wholly acquired the major assets of Australia's OZ Minerals. In 2014, it acquired Peru's Las Bambas Copper Mine, which was then the world's largest copper mine under construction. 

China Minmetals and China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), also a company listed in Fortune Global 500, underwent a strategic restructuring. China Minmetals has taken the lead in creating a whole industry chain channel from resource acquisition to exploration and survey, design and construction, mining and beneficiation, smelting and processing, as well as trade and logistics. Eventually, it established a business system featured by "four beams and eight columns". The four beams include metals and minerals, metallurgical construction, trade and logistics, finance and real estate. The eight columns include mineral development, metallic materials, new energy materials, metallurgical engineering, basic construction, trade and logistics, financial services, real-estate development. China Minmetals is becoming larger in scale, diversified in business and stronger in resisting risks.