Lithium - China Turns Weaknesses into Strengths

Lithium has been pushed into the spotlight by domestic and foreign media along with the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to three scientists "for the development of lithium-ion batteries," for which enabled the development of long-range electric cars and the storage of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power. The importance of this metal has gradually become recognized by the public.

With the gradual popularization of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries occupy an important position in many high-tech industries. As the largest country in electric vehicles, the importance of this metal to China is equally self-evident. In 2015, China explored 4.5 million tons of deposits, ranking sixth in the world. By 2018, China became the third-largest producer in the world after Australia and Chile. In June this year, China discovered a super-lithium mine with an expected reserve of 5 million tons in Yunnan, which exceeds the sum of the deposits discovered in China. At present, Chinese deposits probably reach 9.5 million tons, secondary to Argentina.

Turning the weakness into strengths. China is a big coal producing country and fossil energy plays a leading role in China's energy structure. However, we have not been planning to enjoy coal resources. As early as in the 1990s, under the leadership of our two "two bombs and one star" academician Yusheng Yang, China began to enter the research and development of lithium-sulfur batteries, and the awareness of green energy lay the foundation. In the past 20 years, Chinese scientists have been continuously upgrading the technology of lithium-ion batteries. Later, the electronics industry and the electric vehicle industry explosively grow in recent years. It is inseparable from the foundation laid down at that time.

China has also achieved the international leading position in the semiconductor industry, and its industry combined with the lithium-ion battery industry will also lay the foundation for the Chinese future industry. Besides, in July this year, Chinese scientists also made a breakthrough in lithium technology in Salt Lake. From reserves to extraction, from application to planning, Chinese lithium technology can be said to be completely self-sufficient. Resources and technology are always the foundation of national industrial development, and the wisdom of Chinese people lies in the foresight. At the time of the rise of the industry, China has made sufficient preparations to turn the weakness of the past into strengths.

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