(Yicai Global) Sept. 22 -- Reserves in Qinghai Salt Lake account for more than 60 percent of the world's 34 million tons of identified lithium resources, Science and Technology Daily reported, citing the recently released Patent Navigation Report on Lithium Industry in Qinghai Province.

"Most of the lithium raw materials for primary product processing in the eastern region of China rely on imported lithium ore, which will be improved by extracting lithium from Qinghai Salt Lake," said Wang Min, a researcher at Qinghai Salt Lake Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences. "Besides, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile hold 70 percent of the world's lithium market, and lithium extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake can break international oligopolies."

Qinghai is a strategic base in China for lithium-6, a stable isotope that is a basic raw material for nuclear reactors.

"It is imperative to build a national lithium industry base in Qinghai province around lithium exploitation in Qinghai Salt Lake, in order to develop new industries such as anode and cathode materials, energy storage batteries and power batteries," she said.

The province has introduced documents including the Development Plan of Lithium-Electric Industry in Qinghai Province in recent years that highlight the advantages of developing the lithium battery industry and building a hub in Qinghai.

The Qinghai Science and Technology Department has supported 23 lithium industry schemes to the tune of USD0.73 billion (CNY4.794 billion), completing eight production lines and achieving a sales income of CNY1.027 billion from 2011 to 2016, said Zhang Chaoyuan, deputy commissioner of the department.

Qinghai will build a preliminary whole-industry chain for lithium-ion batteries that will cover extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake, supporting materials such as anode and cathode materials and copper-aluminum foil for lithium batteries, as well as energy storage and power batteries, Zhang said.