Guizhou to form lithium battery manufacturing cluster

CNGR Advanced Material Co in Guizhou's Tongren city is a leading global supplier of lithium battery precursors. In 2020, its shipments of lithium battery precursors ranked first in the world and it had a 25 percent share of the global market. [Photo/ddcpc website]

With the increasing global demand for lithium batteries, Southwest China's Guizhou province issued a development plan in August to develop the province as a domestic lithium battery R&D and production hub, as well as to reach more than 100 billion yuan ($15.64 billion) in annual output value by 2025.

Relying on its resources and industrial foundations, Guizhou saw its investment in the lithium battery manufacturing industry surge by 130.3 percent in the first three quarters of the current year.

Guizhou reportedly boasts rich phosphate rocks, manganese ore and pyrites resources, a strong foundation for the phosphorus chemicals industry and coal chemicals industry and a booming fluorine chemicals industry.

Workers assemble lithium batteries at Guizhou Grace Hummer New Energy Technology Co in Guizhou's Bijie city. The company's products have been sold to Southeast Asia and Africa. [Photo/ddcpc website]

It is also said to have natural advantages in lithium battery materials for cathode materials, artificial graphite cathode materials and lithium hexafluorophosphate.

As a result, Guizhou has developed a complete industrial supply chain for lithium battery manufacturing and ranks among the top players in China in terms of lithium battery materials production quantity and quality.

The problem, however, is that Guizhou is still facing low profitability, a lack of first-class tech personnel, insufficient independent innovation capabilities and low quality in its manganese ore resources.

Liu Qibin, dean of Guizhou University's College of Materials and Metallurgy, said that government departments should help well-developed lithium battery producers expand the scale of their operations and contribute to the healthy development of Guizhou's lithium battery industry.

Liu added that Guizhou's new energy businesses should also enhance their technology innovation, establish R&D centers in the province and attract more R&D platforms and teams.