Jiangxi province is actively leveraging its advantages in upstream lithium resources to expand downstream sectors such as battery and electric vehicle manufacturing, with a view to becoming a leading industrial cluster. The province has already formed three major lithium battery industrial bases in Yichun, Xinyu, and Ganzhou, and various clusters for lithium battery manufacturing in cities such as Nanchang, Shangrao, Pingxiang and Fuzhou. Last year, the total value of Jiangxi’s lithium battery and new energy industry reached CNY406.51 billion, a 120.3% year-on-year growth, according to the provincial government. The province has developed a complete industrial chain covering mining and production of major battery materials, lithium batteries, new energy vehicles and power storage facilities, said Jiang Mingcheng, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Jiangxi province.
Yichun, a city with abundant lithium resources, is optimizing its business environment to attract top-tier lithium battery companies, hoping its lithium battery and new energy industry will achieve a revenue of CNY250 billion by 2026. The local government said it will intensify lithium-rich mica mineral resource extraction, develop technologies for extracting lithium from salt lakes, and produce lithium spodumene. Major projects from battery producers like Contemporary Amperex Technology Co and Gotion High-tech will be promoted. CATL’s first project in Yichun, the Yichun Times Battery Factory Phase I, garnered a total investment of CNY13.5 billion with a planned annual production capacity of 50 gigawatt-hours for lithium-ion batteries and energy storage batteries. The city will also promote the establishment of research and development institutions by leading enterprises like CATL, as well as green development of lithium resources, recycling of used lithium batteries, and lithium slag utilization. Last year, Yichun produced over 140,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, accounting for about one-third of the country’s total. In just three years, revenues from the lithium battery and new energy industry in Yichun had grown five-fold, from less than CNY20 billion in 2020 to CNY111.7 billion in 2022.
Ganzhou, in the southern part of Jiangxi, is focusing on new energy development, including steel shell lithium batteries, pouch-cell batteries and other parts of the industry chain. Ganzhou Haohai New Materials Co, a company specializing in recycling waste lithium batteries and other lithium-containing materials, saw revenue from its main businesses reach CNY120 million in 2022. Longnan, where Ganzhou Haohai is located, is striving to build a CNY100 billion lithium battery industry cluster. In western Jiangxi, Xinyu, a city home to over 70 lithium battery companies, including several industry leaders like Ganfeng Lithium, has formed a relatively complete industry chain with products being exported to the United States, Japan, South Korea and some European countries. In the first half of this year, the city’s export of lithium battery products reached CNY11.92 billion, a 94% year-on-year increase and accounting for 84.4% of the city’s total exports. Ganfeng Lithium boasts an annual production capacity of 81,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, accounting for around 20% of the global production volume, making it the largest lithium hydroxide production base in the world.
Meanwhile, Guizhou province has established lithium battery material industry clusters in the Dalong Economic and Technological Development Zone in Tongren and the Guiyang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, nurturing renowned companies like Guizhou Anda Energy Technology Co. The total output value of companies whose annual revenue surpasses CNY20 million each in Guizhou’s NEV battery and materials industry surged to CNY53.2 billion in 2022, and is expected to exceed CNY100 billion this year, up from barely CNY12 billion in 2020.
Guizhou Anda Energy Technology was the first company from the province to be listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE). The company has capitalized on the growth of the NEV sector, transforming from a traditional phosphorus chemical producer to a new energy material manufacturer, significantly increasing its product value. The company primarily focuses on iron phosphate and lithium iron phosphate. The company is a major supplier to well-known domestic lithium battery manufacturers like BYD, CALB and Sunwoda. The company has an annual production capacity of 150,000 metric tons of lithium iron phosphate. Last year, the company generated CNY6.5 billion in revenue and CNY810 million in profit, the China Daily reports.
