Lithium Iron Phosphate Production Line of Yunnan Yuneng Project. (Photo/ Li Haixi)

On June 29, the first phase of Yunnan Yuneng New Energy Battery Materials Project (hereinafter referred to as Yunnan Yuneng Project), located in Anning Industrial Park, was put into production.

With a total investment of 14 billion yuan, the Yunnan Yuneng Project was settled in Anning in June 2021. It took less than 60 days to sign this project, which created new records as the project begun on the construction quickly with the shortest negotiation time on the largest scale. Since the start in February, the first phase of the Yunnan Yuneng Project was put into production within around 4 months, hitting a record high in the speed of Kunming's industry construction.

Located 15 kilometers to the west of Anning City, Anning Industrial Park is viewed as the industrial economy's backbone in Anning and even Kunming. It gathers large enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corporation, Yuntianhua Group, and Kunming Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (KISC). The official operation of the Yunnan Yuneng Project marked a big step in developing the new energy battery industry in Kunming and Anning.

In the new energy battery industry chain, refined phosphoric acid is the main raw material for the manufacture of lithium iron phosphate materials. Anning has 920 million tons of high-grade phosphate reserves, accounting for about 20% of the proven phosphate ore in Yunnan Province.

Although Anning has Yuntianhua Group and Yunnan Xiangfeng Group, two leading phosphate companies with the complete phosphorus chemical industry chain, abundant resources, and related supporting facilities in place, what made the client decide to settle down is the government's efficiency and good business environment here. "A company values the business environment when making a decision to settle in Kunming," said Zhou Shouhong, the General Manager of Yunnan Yuneng New Energy Battery Material Co., Ltd.

After that, the Yunnan Yuneng Project worth ten billion yuan was quickly settled in Anning and wrote a new chapter in Kunming's new energy battery material industry.

"There are 3,000 workers on the construction site at the same time," a person related to the Yunnan Yuneng Project said. Every step of the project construction drew attention and support from all relevant party committees and governments.

Wang Yubo, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee and Governor of the People's Government of Yunnan Province, visited the site twice to inspect the project and give guidance. Liu Hongjian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, Secretary of the CPC Kunming Municipal Committee, led a team to conduct an in-depth investigation of the construction site and coordinated and solved the problems encountered in the project construction on the spot.

According to a Yunnan Dian Zhong New Area official's analysis, the new energy battery materials industry opens a window of opportunity, and other areas across China also lay out their plans. Starting the operation earlier with a lower cost is competitive and vital.

Yunnan Yuneng Project planned to invest 12 billion yuan in the beginning, but later on, it added 2 billion yuan in 2022. Anning Industrial Park personnel worked out the agreement draft overnight, and the next day another 2 billion yuan contract was signed in the meeting.

The first time when Wang Yubo came to the Yunnan Yuneng Project site on February 8, the site was a barren landscape. However, the second time he came on May 12, workshops and plants were built with the hovering tower cranes above. All people who beheld this scene were impressive. Wang said, "this shows Anning speed, Kunming speed, and provides a supporting point for Yunnan speed, Yunnan service, and Yunnan integrity."

The two years since the Yunnan Yuneng Project was settled in Kunming was a period of booming development and accelerated layouts of the new energy battery material industry in China.

In 2021, the production and sales of China's new energy vehicles exceeded 3.5 million units. New energy vehicles have driven a sharp increase in demand for lithium batteries and key materials. Meanwhile, the lithium battery industry sped up the transfer from the southeast coast to the southwest region, called the lithium "southwest fly" phenomenon. Lithium's "southwest fly" window period is very short, and the opportunity is instant.

Anning seized this opportunity and new planning of an area of 21.3 square kilometers for the new energy battery industry in the industrial park. The new energy battery industry will be built as another 100 billion industry following the petrochemical and metallurgical industries to establish a nationally significant green new energy battery industry cluster.

After Hunan Yuneng invested in Anning, other large domestic new energy battery materials companies came one after another, including Shanghai Shanshan, and Zhejinag Huayou. Currently, 7 new energy battery projects are under construction in Anning with a total investment of 56 billion yuan. It is projected that the output value will exceed over 160 billion yuan in a few years.

Bi Shaogang, the Secretary of the CPC Anning Municipal Committee, the Mayor of Kunming Municipal People's Government said Anning City draws on the advanced management model of Huawei and other companies and establishes a special class for attracting investment with the "corps system + chain leader system." For key industries such as the new energy battery industry, the "corps operations" approach breaks the administrative boundaries and makes every effort to provide services and support.