China Will Accelerate Development of Nickel and Lithium Resources in 2022

SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (SMM) – At the press conference held by State Council Information Office on February 28, Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that China will moderately speed up the development of domestic nickel and lithium resources to meet the demand from motive power battery market this year, and will combat hoarding, price hike, and other unfair competition behaviours.

At the same time, China will improve the power battery recycling and utilisation system, support technical research on efficient dismantling and recycling, and continuously improve the recycling rate and resource utilisation efficiency.

In terms of new energy vehicles (NEVs), Xin Guobin said that it is necessary to study and clarify support policies such as the continuation of tax incentives for NEVs, optimise the “double credits” management method, effectively reduce the subsidies, and stabilise market expectations.

China will organise the compilation of a roadmap for the green development of the automotive industry and provide guidance and assistance to enterprises.

According to the "2021 Lithium-ion Battery Industry Operation" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on February 24, China’s national lithium-ion battery output in 2021 stood at 324 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 106%. Among them, the output of commercial battery rose by 18% to 72 GWh, the output of motive power battery increased by 165% to 220 GWh, and the output of energy storage battery rose by 146% to 32 GWh.

The output of the four key materials for lithium batteries has grown rapidly. According to estimates by research institutions, the output growth rate of cathode materials, separators and electrolytes is close to 100%. The total output value of the lithium battery industry exceeded 600 billion yuan.

China's new NEV industry also maintained rapid growth in January 2022. In January, the production and sales of NEVs totalled 452,000 and 431,000 units respectively, an increase of 130% and 140% year-on-year, and the market penetration rate reached 17.0%.