Real estate investment drops, CATL and NIO team up, and lithium is still golden

Real estate investment decreased 10% year-on-year in 2022 to 13.29 trillion yuan ($1.97 trillion), the first decline since records began in 1999, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Battery leader CATL 宁德时代 and electric vehicle brand NIO 蔚来 yesterday signed a five-year comprehensive strategic agreement that includes cooperation on “new brands, new projects and new markets,” overseas business expansion, and business models for long-life batteries.

Lithium is still golden: Earlier today, lithium mining company Tianqi Lithium 天齐锂业 released a 2022 profit forecast of up to 25.60 billion yuan ($3.78 billion), a year-on-year increase of 1,131%.