Chinese firms are lining up to invest in South Korea’s battery industry because they want to use it as a gateway to the US market, undermining Washington’s efforts to limit China’s involvement in the electric-car supply chain.
Over the past four months, Chinese companies and their Korean partners have announced some 5.1 trillion won (US$4 billion) of investments in five new battery factories in South Korea. And at least one local government is in talks for more projects, officials from the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency say
The Chinese – and Korean – firms are looking to take advantage of South Korea’s free-trade agreement with the United States, considering that batteries made in the East Asian nation and then installed in US-made electric cars are likely to qualify for tax breaks under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
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