It is expected that by 2030, China's share of global lithium mining will reach 39%, ranking first in the world. This impressive achievement is based on the deep cooperation between China and African countries. In the future, the scale of local lithium mining in African countries will continue to expand significantly, providing important support for China to enhance its global lithium mining control.

Lithium is a highly valuable strategic resource, with applications covering multiple core industries. It is not only the core raw material for new energy vehicle power batteries, mobile phones, computers and other digital high-tech products, but also widely used in solar and wind power generation projects. At the same time, it plays an important role in many fields such as healthcare.

The global lithium mining landscape has undergone significant changes

The global lithium mining landscape has undergone significant changes over the past decade. In 2020, Australia led the world with 43% of mining output, while China accounted for 24%, South America accounted for 32%, North America only 1%, and Africa currently has no lithium mining output.

Industry data predicts that the global landscape will be completely rewritten by 2030: the proportion of mining in Africa will rise to 13%, China's domestic mining will account for 30%, Australia will fall to 25%, South America will account for 23%, and North America will increase to 8%. If the share of China Africa cooperation projects is included, China's global control over lithium mining will reach 39%. In addition, China's domestic lithium reserves have also significantly increased. According to data from the China Geological Survey, the global proportion of lithium reserves in China has increased from 6% to 16.5%, and its reserve ranking has jumped from sixth to second in the world.

The advantages of China Africa cooperation are highlighted

In the international competition of China Africa cooperation, China has significant advantages and outstanding achievements compared to Western countries. Unlike the ever-changing strategies of Western countries towards Africa, China's policy towards Africa has always been stable and unified. Starting from May 1, 2026, China will implement a zero tariff policy on goods from 53 African countries, while continuously assisting African countries in improving infrastructure such as transportation and people's livelihoods, and consolidating the foundation of cooperation.

The domestic lithium battery industry is booming, and market demand continues to rise, which not only drives the continuous expansion of China's local lithium mining scale, but also deepens China's participation in African lithium mining projects. This two-way development strategy has enabled China to gradually break the resource monopoly of Western companies in Africa and successfully expand its dominant position in the global lithium mining industry.

Diversified layout of lithium mines in Africa

In order to firmly grasp the advantages of lithium mineral resources in Africa and enhance the discourse power of local resource exploitation, China relies on multiple measures to deeply cultivate the African market. Under the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, by helping Africa build infrastructure, we can exchange preferential and exclusive mining rights for local lithium resources; By acquiring equity in African lithium mining projects, gradually replacing the market share of Western companies; Compared to Western companies, China has a larger investment scale and more stable implementation of non lithium mining projects, fully ensuring the smooth progress and production of various mineral projects. Keywords: lithium ore, China, Africa

At present, China has landed multiple key lithium mining projects in Africa, including the Manono lithium mine in Congo, the Ewoya lithium mine in Ghana, the Acadia lithium mine in Zimbabwe, the Marigulamina lithium mine, and the Buguni deposit. At the same time, China also plans to continue expanding its resource layout in Africa and is expected to further invest in lithium mining projects in Cote d'Ivoire and Namibia.Editor/Gong Ziwei