Analysis of China's lithium resources supply system:status, issues and suggestions

The lithium resources supply system includes resources type, origin, structure and other factors.This paper analyzes the status and issues of China's lithium resources supply system including and forecasts the supply and demand situation in the future.The research shows that China's lithium resources supply system is consisted by 5 different domestic and foreign resources, and the degree of dependence on foreign resources, which is mainly from Australian spodumene resources with higher cost, is as high as 80%; though China is very rich in lithium resources, the domestic production is costly and insufficient facing many barriers; in 2025 the domestic demand will be 433 800 tons and the domestic supply capacity will be only 180 000 tons, so the gap between demand and domestic production will be 253 800 tons and the degree of foreign dependence will be still as high as 58.5%.This paper suggests that:the domestic lithium exploration and production should be strengthened; the investment on South American lithium resources from salt-lake brine should be improved.