BEIJING - China's top market regulator has granted conditional approval to a Chilean joint venture set to manage the Salar de Atacama lithium mining project in Chile, aiming to ensure the stable, non-discriminatory supply of imported lithium carbonate.

The National Copper Corporation of Chile (Codelco) and Chilean chemical company Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) plan to form the joint venture by injecting assets to manage the Salar de Atacama lithium mining project.

The move is a major integration in the supply of imported lithium carbonate, a critical upstream raw material for the lithium battery and new energy vehicle sectors, among others, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

During its review of the case, the Chinese market regulator fully considered the potential impact of the imported lithium carbonate on competition in the domestic market.

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With restrictive conditions attached to the approval, Codelco, SQM and their joint venture have committed to continuing to fulfill existing contracts, to providing a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory supply, and to issuing timely reports on major supply changes.

These commitments are beneficial to stabilizing the supply and ensuring the reasonable pricing of lithium carbonate products, thereby safeguarding the interests of downstream customers and consumers, the market regulator said.

It noted that the conditional approval aims to create a fair competition environment for the healthy, orderly development of China's new energy industry.