Introduction: Cross-border ventures are never guaranteed to be profitable. In the past, many cross-border enterprises have failed due to insufficient technological reserves and a lack of ability to integrate resources. For newcomers, how to break through the bottleneck of technological research and development, adapt to industry production standards, and cope with fluctuations in raw material prices and risks of overcapacity are all challenges awaiting their resolution. 

Currently, the battery new energy sector is experiencing a strong rebound. The storage, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robot sectors are also accelerating their growth, directly driving the entire industry chain to experience a new round of heating up trend. 

The signal of recovery in the price sector is the most obvious: The price of lithium carbonate has gradually risen from its previous low point and has now stabilized at 118,000 yuan per ton; The electrolyte material sector has witnessed explosive growth, with the prices of core raw materials such as lithium fluoroethylene carbonate and VC rising sharply. The price increase has exceeded three times in the past three months, and the current market enthusiasm remains high; Due to the continuous rise in raw material prices, recently, lithium iron phosphate listed companies have collectively reduced production to maintain prices, engaging in self-rescue and game-playing; In addition, several separator manufacturers have also initiated price hikes recently, and the industry‘s popularity continues to rise... 

Meanwhile, the order market has also witnessed a full-scale boom. Billion-dollar cooperation orders are pouring in continuously, constantly surpassing industry expectations. This industry‘s recovery in prosperity not only shows itself vividly in terms of prices and orders, but also reappears as a "new favorite" in the capital market. Not only have the original enterprises continued to increase their investment, but also external players can‘t hold back any longer. In December 2025 alone, three different listed companies from different fields "came with great enthusiasm" and decisively entered the market. 

Over 1.2 billion yuan! A real estate listed company plans to make a cross-border acquisition of 100% shares of a foreign lithium company. 

On December 22, 2025, the real estate listed company Huailian Holdings (000036) announced that the company intends to acquire 100% of the shares of Argentum Lithium S.A. (hereinafter referred to as "Argentum") held by Lithium Chile Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Chile Lithium") and Steve William Cochrane through its own or self-raised funds of approximately 175 million US dollars (equivalent to 1.235 billion RMB), thereby obtaining 80% of the rights and interests of the Arizaro project. On the same day, the company and the transaction counterparty signed the "Share Purchase Agreement". 

The announcement states that Chile Lithium is a company established under the laws of Alberta, Canada and listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Toronto Stock Exchange (stock code: LITH). Chile Lithium mainly engages in mining exploration and development activities in Chile and Argentina, and possesses over 10 mining projects located in both countries, with the lithium salt lake projects being the main ones. 

Hualian Holdings stated that in recent years, the domestic real estate market has undergone significant changes, and the company‘s real estate business has encountered growth bottlenecks. After this transaction, the company will hold 100% of the shares of Argentum. While maintaining its original real estate development and property operation and service management businesses, it will acquire new overseas lithium salt lake assets and intends to enter the lithium extraction from salt lakes business. 

Total investment exceeds 1 billion! A leading rare earth company in Shandong Jining will venture into lithium battery recycling. 

On December 8, 2025, information on the "Annual Processing Capacity of 50,000 Tons of Used Batteries for Comprehensive Recycling and Utilization Project of Zhongxi Tianma New Materials Co., Ltd." of the China Under-construction Projects Network indicates that Zhongxi Tianma New Materials Co., Ltd. is about to enter the lithium battery recycling industry. 

It is reported that the total investment of the project exceeds 1 billion yuan. The project covers an area of 150 acres and has a total construction area of 65,000 square meters. It mainly includes the construction of sorting workshops, electrolysis workshops, dismantling workshops, etc. After the project is completed, it will be able to process 50,000 tons of used lithium batteries annually. Public engineering such as water supply and heating will also be constructed to meet the project‘s needs. The construction period of the project is from 2025 to 2028. 

According to the data, Zhongxi Tianma New Materials Co., Ltd. was established on August 5, 2010. Its headquarters is located in Liangshan County, Jining City, Shandong Province. It is the largest domestic enterprise specializing in the green recycling and comprehensive utilization of rare earth resources for neodymium-iron-boron. The company uses waste materials such as used cars, household appliances, and electronic equipment as raw materials to produce rare earth oxides and metals such as praseodymium, gadolinium, terbium, and dysprosium. Its annual processing capacity reaches 36,000 tons. As a national high-tech enterprise and a green factory, the company‘s rare earth oxide products have ranked first in the national market share and comprehensive utilization capacity in the industry of secondary rare earth resource recycling and comprehensive utilization for consecutive years. 

2.61 billion yuan! A hundred-billion-yuan state-owned enterprise in Hunan plans to make a cross-border acquisition of a positive electrode material company. 

On the evening of December 2nd, 2025, Xietian Salt Industry (stock code: 600929) announced that the company intends to acquire 41% of the equity of Hunan Meit New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Meit New Materials"), which is controlled by the company‘s controlling shareholder, Hunan Salt Industry Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Hunan Salt Industry Group"). The estimated transaction price is approximately 261 million yuan. 

The announcement states that Xueshi Salt Industry plans to acquire 41% of the equity of Meitan Xincai, in order to further implement the company‘s strategic development plan of "focusing on resources, using salt as the axis, with one core and three wings, and two-wheel drive". After this acquisition is completed, the company will hold a total of 61% of the shares of Meitan Xincai and become the controlling shareholder of Meitan Xincai. 

It is reported that Meitex Materials‘ main business is the production and sales of lithium cobalt oxide. It has a production line with a designed capacity of 7,500 tons and an approved capacity of 5,500 tons. In the field of sodium batteries, Meitex Materials has established a professional technical management team to promote the research and development of core technologies, but has not yet achieved large-scale mass production. The revenue contribution of Meitex Materials to the company is relatively small. Currently, Meitex Materials‘ main products include lithium cobalt oxide, ternary positive electrode materials, and sodium battery positive electrode materials, and they are mainly applied in the production and manufacturing of new energy batteries. 

According to the data, Shexian Salt Industry‘s main business is the production and sales of salt and salt-related chemical products. It has already shifted from a simple salt industry to a salt industry cluster. At the same time, the company is accelerating the development of strategic emerging industries, extending to the downstream high-value-added fluorine and ammonia fine chemical fields, and accelerating the industrialization of sodium battery positive electrode materials, etc., promoting the coordinated development of multiple industrial chain links such as salt and food, salt and salt chemical products, and salt and new energy. 

Conclusion: Upon careful examination of the above three cross-border cases, it is evident that although they belong to different fields such as real estate, rare earth, and salt chemical industry, they all focus on the core links of the battery new energy industry chain. Either they fill the resource gap or achieve collaborative transformation by leveraging their own technologies or resource endowments. 

However, cross-border ventures are never a sure-fire success. In the past, many cross-border enterprises have failed due to insufficient technological reserves and a lack of ability to integrate resources. For newcomers, how to break through the bottleneck of technological research and development, adapt to industry production standards, and cope with fluctuations in raw material prices and risks of overcapacity are all challenges they need to solve.