Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission announced the review results of the 2020 scientific and technological innovation action plan “The Belt and Road” international cooperation project, and the project “International Joint Laboratory for Strategic Resources Potassium and Lithium” of ECUST has been approved. The international joint laboratory project is an international cooperative research led by Professor Yu Jianguo and supported by East China University of Science and Technology, with Thailand Potash Co., Ltd. carrying out the development of strategic resources potassium and lithium. The first round of construction period is three years. It is reported that this is the only school-enterprise cooperation international joint laboratory construction project with the goal of industrialization among Shanghai universities.

Potassium and lithium, listed in the national catalog of 24 strategic minerals, are the key raw material for the development of national food security, new energy strategy and national defense. Due to the shortage of resources and the limitations of processing technology, China has been dependent on imports of potash fertilizer for a long time, and the development of lithium mines is still in its infancy, which means, for a long time, the external dependence of potassium and lithium resources will remain high. International Joint Laboratory for Strategic Resources Potassium and Lithium focuses on the strategic needs of overseas development of the country’s scarce resources and seeks international cooperation in basic application and engineering of the rock salt mine, potassium and bromide resources in Indochina and Brine, lithium boron resources in South America. It is committed to build a global open technology innovation platform and comprehensive research base to promote the exchange of outstanding scientific and technological workers and engineering designers at home and abroad, help the construction of overseas base of the national strategic resource potassium-lithium, and provide strong support for the overall improvement of China’s green development technology for overseas resources.

ECUST National Engineering Research Center for Integrated Utilization of Salt Lake Resources has been cooperating with Thailand Potash Co., Ltd. in an international technology transfer project since 2012, which has continuously promoted the 140,000 tons/year potassium chloride production project in the Korat Plateau, Thailand. In 2019, another contract was signed for the second phase of project with an annual output of 300,000 tons of potassium chloride and 600,000 tons of industrial sodium chloride. This international joint laboratory project further enhanced the cooperation between the two parties. It is committed to establish a complete set of industrial technology and core equipment system with major independent innovation in the field of potassium-lithium mineral resource development after the first round of three-year cycle construction. With the demonstration of Thailand’s second phase project, it is supposed to form an international scientific and technological influence and allow its technology to be applied widely so that it can be served in the advanced industrial manufacturing upgradation and comprehensive utilization of associated resources in industrial clusters such as rock salt mine, potassium and bromide resources in Indochina and Brine, lithium boron resources in South America. In this way, “The Belt and Road” initiative can be better implemented and more concerted efforts can be made to seek common development of international resources.