It probably also has to do that Chinese car manufacturers are...

It probably also has to do that Chinese car manufacturers are going to put legacy car makers out of business as the card lie currently. It was discussed here (in the Netherlands) on the radio how affordable Chinese electric cars are soon going to flood the market.

It makes sense that in a communist country there is a policy in place to 'manage' the price of resources to ensure affordable materials to produce cars cheaper then the competition so market share growth is guaranteed, hence job security and economic growth, something China is struggling with as of late.

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In the end lower lithium prices in China thus could mean not lower prices elsewhere, but if Chinese cars are so much more affordable, demand for non chinese electric cars will go down and demand for lithium as well... Paradoxically.