Over the past few decades, China has become the world’s largest supplier of lithium-ion batteries, and has also gained control of the resource base far beyond its borders. The Chinese government intends to tighten controls over the export of technologies used in the processing of rare earth minerals and the production of batteries, as it considers this know-how to be strategically important for the national economy.
The public hearing period for the new restrictions ended in February and they are set to go into effect in China soon, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Companies looking to move production outside the country or license technology to overseas customers will have to obtain special permission from China’s Ministry of Commerce.
China occupies approximately 90% of the global market in the production of materials for lithium-ion battery cathodes and gallium. In addition, the country uses advanced technologies for processing raw materials and producing batteries, so local authorities are ready to protect them from leakage abroad to unfriendly countries.
Gallium is a by-product of aluminum processing, so the corresponding technologies in China are developed by representatives of non-ferrous metallurgy. Their foreign activities will now be given increased attention by the country’s authorities. Among Western countries, there are many who want to acquire enterprises for the production of traction batteries on their territory, and the import of technologies is also implied from China. The authorities of individual countries require Chinese manufacturers to share technologies in order to provide them to local competitors. Until now, export restrictions in China concerned the raw materials themselves, but now there is an awareness of the need to protect know-how.