China needs to strengthen its domestic resources of battery metals including nickel, lithium and cobalt as its reliance on external supply poses a risk for its electric vehicle industry, a metals industry official said on Friday.
The three metals are key raw materials for making lithium-iron batteries, a popular choice for the burgeoning electric vehicles industry globally. The ministry said China will also accelerate research and development of new types of batteries, including sodium-iron batteries and hydrogen energy storage batteries, in an effort to reduce its reliance on lithium-iron batteries.
“New energy materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium showed vigorous developments. The downward pressure of the real economy is increasing, but the new energy industry is going against the trend,” Hu said.