China leads the race to exploit deep sea minerals -U.N. body

China is likely to become the first country in the world to start mining seabed minerals if the international rules for exploitation are approved next year, the head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) said.The ISA has already signed 30 contracts with governments, research institutions and commercial entities for exploration phase, with China holding the most, five contracts.The body, which was established to manage the seabed resources by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the