Leading private lithium battery material entrepreneur calls for more proactive initiatives

A Chinese private entrepreneur of a listed lithium battery supplier calls for more open mindset and proactive initiative among the private sector, after having received more encouragement and favorable policies from the central government.

As the Chinese economy gradually shifts towards a technology-and-innovation-driven development model, private enterprises are the driving force for this transformation, he said.

Li Shijiang, chairman of Do-Fluoride New Materials Co., Ltd., a lithium battery material manufacturer based in central China's Henan Province, expressed his viewpoints in a recent interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN).

This interview followed a symposium held in February in which President Xi Jinping spoke directly to the country's top-tier private entrepreneur representatives for their involvement in rejuvenating the country's economy, attracting wide attention in the country's business communities.

Not only strong policy support is required to promote enterprises innovation. More importantly, it is necessary for enterprises exert their subjective initiative, Li said.

"In fact, there are many experts among the people. Much of China's innovation capability lies in the folks, including in private enterprises, which have an innate and strong drive for innovation. For private enterprises to thrive, relying solely on policies is not enough. They must be self-reliant, independent, with a keen awareness of survival. Without innovation, they may perish. Therefore, it is essential to tap into this internal pressure for innovation and ensure that they play a leading role in innovation. In terms of the innovation ecosystem, I believe the most important thing is to reduce the cost of innovation in society, to untackle it and to open up," he said.

Li's company Do-Fluoride started in chemical business of producing fluorine and later expanded it to lithium battery with wide demand in new energy sector now. It first achieved its R and D breakthrough in lithium hexafluorophosphate, a crucial component for making electrolytes for lithium batteries and has grown to become a leading global supplier. It was listed on China's Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 2010.

Over 900 suspected Ebola cases, including 101 confirmed ones, have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media on Sunday.

The DRC government announced Saturday that a new wave of Ebola outbreaks has spread further in the country, with all passenger flights being suspended in Bunia, capital of Ituri province in eastern DRC, also one of the hardest-hit areas.

The WHO on Friday raised the public health risk level of the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC from "high" to "very high", as the global risk remains "low".