People’s Daily Frontpage | NPC Deputy Li Changdong on Independent Innovation in Science and Technology — Stand Firm in Pursuing Confirmed Development Goals

At this year’s Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed the need to “strive for new breakthroughs in advancing original innovation, tackling key and core technologies, and seizing the commanding heights of science and technology.” Li Changdong, NPC Deputy and Chairman & President of Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd., spoke at the NPC Deputies’ Passage, sharing his company’s path of independent innovation and technology-powered development.

People’s Daily (March 10, 2026, Front Page) Commentary: From collecting batteries door-to-door to overcoming technical hurdles through independent R&D, Li Changdong’s entrepreneurial journey epitomizes China’s innovation trajectory — from following others to running abreast and then leading the pack in science and technology.

People’s Daily (March 10, 2026, Frontpage)

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NPC Deputy Li Changdong on Independent Technological Innovation — Stand Firm in Pursuing Confirmed Development Goals (Onsite · NPC Deputies’ Passage)

By Shi Yiqi

“The annual output of new energy vehicles exceeds 16 million units.” This figure in this year’s Government Work Report is truly inspiring.  The explosive growth in scale also brings a new issue: how to recycle and utilize retired power batteries?

“This represents both a challenge and even more so a valuable opportunity,” said Li Changdong, NPC Deputy and Chairman of Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd., at the NPC Deputies’ Passage on the morning of March 9.

Li Changdong recalled that more than two decades ago, China had virtually no mature system for waste battery recycling and utilization. “In those days, waste batteries were either soaked in pools or heated in large iron pots — primitive methods that polluted the environment and squandered resources.”

In 2005, with the aspiration of “returning waste batteries to where they came from”, Li Changdong and 13 other young persons founded the company in Foshan, Guangdong, and plunged into the battery recycling industry. Looking back on the journey, Li Changdong remarked: “Once we have identified the right direction, we must forge ahead unswervingly.”

At this year’s National Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that we must “strive to make new breakthroughs in advancing original innovation, tackling key and core technologies, and seizing the commanding heights of science and technology.”

“Upholding independence and self-reliance” strikes a deep chord with Li Changdong. In the early days, his team sought to acquire advanced technologies from overseas, only to discover that most were obsolete processes. “This setback strengthened our determination to pursue independent R&D,” Li Changdong noted. After years of relentless research, the team developed directional recycling technology, overcoming the industry challenge of “waste-to-resource recovery” and attaining a 99.6% recovery rate for nickel, cobalt and manganese. Today, the company invests over 1.5 billion yuan in R&D each year, holds more than 6,000 patents in total, and has blazed a trail of independent innovation and technology-powered development.

From collecting batteries door-to-door to overcoming technical challenges through independent R&D, Li Changdong’s entrepreneurial journey epitomizes China’s accelerated shift in scientific and technological innovation — from following others to keeping pace, and now taking the lead.

“At present, one in every three retired new energy vehicles in China has its spent batteries processed by us. Globally, one in every four NCM lithium batteries uses our key materials,” Li Changdong said. “Going forward, we will refine, deepen and expand our battery recycling operations, contributing to the high-quality development of the circular economy.”