Zaozhuang city, an old industrial base in Shandong province, has been ramping up the promotion of transforming old growth drivers into new ones and fostering booming industries to fuel regional high-quality development.

In the first half of 2022, Zaozhuang's GDP grew by 4.1 percent year-on-year, ranking third in the province. The added value of the lithium industry in Zaozhuang increased by 48.8 percent, 41.3 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above designated size, becoming the key force driving the city's economic growth.

With a focus on the basic advantages and market prospects of the lithium industry, Zaozhuang has cultivated the lithium industry cluster with an optimized layout, complete industrial chain and an increasing agglomeration effect, which has become an important growth pole to promote industrial development.

The development of the lithium industry in Zaozhuang has a history of nearly 20 years. Since 2003, Zaozhuang has formed a group of lithium enterprises producing electrolytes, cells and cathode materials. It is one of the first cities to develop a lithium industry in China.

The new energy industry has entered rapid development since the national carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets were established.

The city of Zaozhuang plans to build a new channel for transformed growth and promote new energy to safeguard the environment and achieve sustainable development, according to Chen Ping, Party secretary of Zaozhuang.

A complete industrial chain and industrial ecology of lithium mining and processing, positive and negative electrode materials, diaphragms, electrolytes, terminal applications, recycling, and dismantling are now formed by 57 lithium electric enterprises in Zaozhuang, with more than 200 product varieties.

In the first half of this year, the city's lithium industry achieved a total revenue of 2.68 billion yuan ($384.31 million), which has already surpassed last year's total. According to development plan, the output value of the city's lithium industry aims to reach 30 billion yuan in 2023 and 80 billion yuan in 2025.