- The Argentine ambassador in Beijing, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, the president of YPF Tecnología, Roberto Salvarezza, and the CEO of Tianqi Lithium - one of the three most important companies worldwide dedicated to lithium -, Xia Juncheng, signed an agreement in the Chinese city of Chengdu to jointly invest in the exploration, exploitation, production. The agreement is part of the policy to promote lithium industrialisation promoted by the Embassy in China to promote national industrial development, generate genuine employment and increase exports of technological goods.For this reason, within the talks was present the possibility of technology transfer from China to Argentina, as a contribution from Tianqi Lithium, a world leader in the industry, to the YPF Lithium division, which this week announced that it will produce batteries from December. Likewise, Chinese companies such as Gotion, in Jujuy, will also manufacture lithium batteries, and the automotive company Chery reported that it will manufacture electric cars in Argentina, a situation that could initiate a reconversion of the industry in the country from the strong promotion of electromobility and become a regional HUB.At the signing of the agreement, held in Sichuan province within the framework of the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations, the Argentine ambassador to China thanked the president of YPF, Pablo González, and stated that "China is a strategic partner for the economic development of our country and is a world leader in lithium, proof of this is that when one looks at the main players in In turn, Argentina is a point of the so-called Lithium Trianglethat has in total more than half of the reserves of this white gold.""China," said Vaca Narvaja, "has huge reserves of this mineral, Chinese companies refine more than two thirds of the lithium in the world and have total management of technology, which shows that they are the undisputed leaders of the global supply chain. Therefore, together, Argentina and China are able to achieve a formidable force with considerable influence on the global transition to green energy and I am totally sure that this type of agreement paves that joint path for us. Hand in hand with China we will be able to industrialise our reserves and, at the same time, consolidate ourselves as one of the largest lithium producers worldwide, which will have a strong impact on our exports."The Argentine YPF has had since last year a division dedicated to lithium - which was present at the signing of today's agreement - and this week announced that it will produce batteries with that material from December in a plant located in the town of Berisso in the Argentine Province of Buenos Aires. The factory is part of the YPF Technology division of the state company. Annual production will be about 13 MWh, which is equivalent to 1000 batteries for stationary storage of renewable energies or about 50 for electrical buses. At the launch of the program, President Alberto Fernández assured that "Argentina is the second lithium reserve in the world" so "we not only have to export it, but also industrialise it."Tianqi Lithium is a global company of new energy materials, whose main business is lithium. The company is a world leader in investment in lithium resources, extraction of lithium concentrate and production of advanced lithium compounds. It currently has businesses in China, Chile and Australia and is analysing investment projects in northern Argentina. The firm is installed in Sichuan, a Chinese province twinned with Buenos Aires and its capital, Chengdu, is where the agreement was signed and where Argentina will soon open a consulate with the aim of deepening its presence in the thriving west of the Asian giant. (APFDigital)
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