Chinese Government Regulator to Guide Prices of Key Commodities, such as Lithium, page-10

Just about all attempts to control prices in market environments by governments have failed in the past.
Whether exchange rates, fuel prices etc. Eventually they fail when the reality just overwhelms their attempts at price controls. History is littered with examples. That said there is usually a period where government policy do influence the market(until it fails).
The lithium market is not comparable to iron ore.
At the moment the biggest consumer of iron ore being Chinese construction is highly influenced by the collapse in apartment building construction. A number of high profile developers are in serious financial trouble.
This is leading to significantly reduced steel demand.
The iron ore price is just following this down.
This has got nothing to do with lithium aside from the wider economic impact that may result in reduced demand for new cars.