RIYADH, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of

Congo, the world's top cobalt supplier, is courting new mining

investors from Saudi Arabia to help it diversify and curb

overreliance on companies from China, Marcellin Paluku, a senior

government official, told Reuters.

Congo, which is also rich in copper and other critical

minerals, wants more partnerships with the new investors to

limit the risk of relying solely on Chinese investors, Paluku,

who is a deputy cabinet director in the ministry of mines, said.

Chinese companies, some of which are state-backed, have over

the past years emerged as the biggest investors in Congo,

ramping up investment and production for copper and cobalt.

CMOC Group is now the world's biggest cobalt

miner as it boosts output at Tenke Fungurume Mine it bought from

U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX ) in 2016.

Paluku said Chinese investors' dominant role in the sector

now presents a "risk" to the country's economy.

"Today, 80% of our mines, it's with one partner (China). So

it's a risk," Paluku told Reuters in an interview on the

sidelines of a mining conference in Riyadh.

"You never know what can happen...So that means we are now

trying to diversify our partnerships so we don't rely on only

one partner."

Congo is also courting investors from the European Union and

India, Paluku said. The country is seeking to move away from

current joint ventures which are heavily skewed in favour of

investors, he added.

"We are talking to all the people who are open to do

business with us," Paluku said.