The salt in Qinghai holds the secret of how the Chinese people can have enough to eat.

If you travel to Qinghai, Chaerhan Salt Lake and Chaka Salt Lake are almost must - visit scenic spots.

There are more than 150 salt lakes of various sizes in Qinghai. The three largest salt lakes in China are all located in Qinghai.

In addition to allowing countless people to appreciate the unique beauty, after decades of development, the salt - lake economy has now become a pillar industry in Qinghai.

More importantly, the existence of salt lakes can directly affect food security.

01 The salt in Qinghai is enough for the world to consume for 2000 years

During the peak tourist season, the colorful and mirror - flat waters of Chaka Salt Lake and Chaerhan Salt Lake in Qinghai are filled with tourists taking photos.

Chaka Salt Lake in Qinghai was the first salt lake to become a “web celebrity” tourist destination

Many people may not know that this tourist attraction, known as the “Mirror of the Sky” in China, is actually a veritable “rich mine”.

It is no exaggeration to say that the salt in these salt lakes in Qinghai is more than enough for the world's 8 billion people to consume for 2000 years.

Let's briefly talk about the most famous Chaka Salt Lake and Chaerhan Salt Lake.

Chaka Salt Lake covers an area of more than 100 square kilometers. It was the first to be developed and is also the most famous one.

It became famous because around 2000, tourists from cities discovered that the scenery here was comparable to the famous “Mirror of the Sky” (Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia).

As more and more tourists came here out of admiration, the local area opened up a section of Chaka Salt Lake for tourism, bringing income to local residents.

Dachaidan Salt Lake in Qinghai shows different colors due to different minerals in the water

Before Chaka Salt Lake became a “web celebrity”, it was actually an important production area for mechanically mining mineral salt.

In 2013, media reported that the proven salt reserves in Chaka Salt Lake at that time were 448 million tons, with a sodium chloride content as high as 94%. It is said to be enough for the whole country's population to consume for 75 years.

Chaka Salt Lake is just the smallest one among the four major salt lakes in the Qaidam Basin. Compared with Chaerhan Salt Lake, the largest in China and the second - largest in the world, it is insignificant.

Chaerhan Salt Lake covers an area of 5,856 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 56 times the size of Chaka Salt Lake.

In Chaerhan Salt Lake, there are salt layers 2 - 20 meters thick, and the total reserves of various salts in the lake exceed 60 billion tons.

Just the table salt we usually eat has a reserve of 42.62 billion tons.

The World Health Organization recommends that adults consume no more than 5 grams of salt per day.

Based on this calculation, an adult is likely to consume about 2 kilograms of salt per year.

It can be said that the salt in this single salt lake is enough for the world's population to consume for 2000 years.

Factories of the salt - lake industry beside Chaerhan Salt Lake

Sodium chloride is not the most important thing in Chaerhan Salt Lake.

It is extremely rich in potassium chloride resources and is the largest potassium - magnesium salt deposit in China. The colorful lake water also contains various minerals such as magnesium, lithium, boron, and iodine.

The potassium chloride resource in Chaerhan Salt Lake is 540 million tons, of which the industrial reserves of potassium chloride are 145 million tons, accounting for 97% of the proven reserves in China; the reserves of magnesium chloride are 1.65 billion tons, and the reserves of lithium chloride are 8.246 million tons, both ranking first in China.

The potential development value of Chaerhan Salt Lake alone exceeds 12 trillion yuan.

What about the resources contained in all the salt lakes in Qinghai?

Generally speaking, the salt lakes in Qinghai account for one - third of the total salt - lake resources in China.

Among the proven reserves, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, lithium chloride, etc. account for more than 90% of the national total; the reserves of potassium, magnesium, sodium, mirabilite, lithium, and strontium rank first in China, and the reserves of inorganic salts reach 340 billion tons...

Because of these salt lakes, Qinghai has been included in the “Top Ten Mineral Resource Concentration Areas in the West” of China.

02 The full bellies of Chinese people rely on the support of salt lakes

These salt lakes have become the “key players” in China's grain harvest.

How can salt lakes affect food security?

If we broaden our perspective to the global level, it may be easier to understand.

The Russia - Ukraine conflict has not only triggered an energy crisis in Europe but also caused a global food panic because both countries are major grain - exporting countries.

More importantly, Canada, Russia, and Belarus are the world's top three potassium - fertilizer exporting countries.

Without the support of fertilizers, a good grain harvest is simply impossible.

Some people say that China's chemical industry is world - leading, so there must be no problem with fertilizer production. This is only half - right.

Among the most important nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers, China can not only be self - sufficient in the production of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers but is also a major exporter. However, in the case of potassium fertilizers, domestic production only accounts for about 50%, and nearly half of the demand still depends on imports.

Among the world's major potassium - fertilizer producing countries, although China ranks 4th, it still needs to import a large amount due to high demand

This is because the reserves of potassium salt, the raw material for China's potassium - fertilizer production, are not abundant.

As the world's largest potassium - fertilizer consumer, China's raw materials for potassium - fertilizer production account for less than 10% of the global total.

The potassium mines in major potassium - fertilizer producing countries like Russia are solid mines that can be directly mined and processed.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, foreign experts asserted that China had no potassium mines.

It was not until 1954, when building the Qinghai - Tibet Highway, that people accidentally discovered that the bitter and spicy salt marshes near Chaerhan Salt Lake in Golmud contained 0.4% potassium.

This meager amount of potassium attracted people's attention.

Subsequently, a salt - lake survey team was established to conduct scientific investigations on salt lakes of various sizes in Qinghai.

After more than a dozen people took turns spending three days and three nights to produce 20 catties of potassium fertilizer using primitive methods, they finally reached the conclusion:

China can produce potassium fertilizer on its own.

In 1958, China's first potassium - fertilizer factory was built beside a salt lake in Qinghai.

In 1997, high - quality potassium fertilizer was mass - produced, which not only increased confidence in food security and production but also broke the international trade barriers on potassium fertilizer against China.

By 2022, Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., the largest potassium - fertilizer enterprise in China, produced 5.8 million tons of potassium fertilizer and sold 4.9411 million tons, accounting for more than 73.2% of the domestic potassium - fertilizer market.

Data from 2020 shows that China is still one of the world's largest potassium - fertilizer importers

Chaerhan Salt Lake, rich in potassium, indirectly enriches China's granaries and silently contributes to the country's agricultural production.

03 Build the salt - lake economy into a world - class one

Potassium fertilizer is just one aspect of the hundreds of salt lakes in Qinghai.

As a strategic resource of the country, the salt lakes, this God - given treasure, and the resulting salt - lake industry have more functions.

Resources that can be regarded as “strategic” by the country are by no means simple.

In addition to the crucial role in China's grain production mentioned above, the other effects brought by the salt - lake economy should not be underestimated and may even affect the future.

In addition to producing more than half of China's potassium fertilizer, the salt lakes in Qinghai also contain sodium, magnesium, lithium, boron, bromine, iodine, rubidium, cesium, chlorine...

Although these mineral resources pose challenges to the extraction of potassium fertilizer (the difficulty of purifying potassium fertilizer is directly proportional to the amount of other components in the salt lake), they are actually resources in the wrong place.

A salt - lake enterprise in Qinghai has overcome the technology for extracting lithium. Picture source: Screenshot from CCTV Finance video

Don't underestimate the elements contained in the salt lakes.

The salt - lake resources represented by “potassium, lithium, magnesium, rubidium” have very wide applications in industries such as agriculture, new energy and new materials, electronic communication, aerospace, national defense and military industry, and energy conservation and environmental protection. They are also regarded by developed countries as important strategic resources, just like rare earths.

Taking power batteries as an example, the most mainstream ones at present are lithium - ion batteries, which cannot do without lithium resources.

According to the statistics of the USGS (United States Geological Survey), as of 2020, the proven mineral reserves of global lithium resources were 2.106 million tons of metal, equivalent to 112 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. However, 58% of them are in the lithium triangle region in South America, and the United States and Australia account for 9% and 7% respectively, while China's total lithium resources account for only about 6% of the global total.

Most of China's lithium resources are hidden in salt lakes in Qinghai.

According to statistical data, Qinghai Province holds about 22.48 million tons of lithium resources, accounting for more than 80% of the national total.

Among the proven reserves of metallic lithium resources in China, Qinghai has become the province with the richest reserves because of its salt lakes

In 2022, the production of lithium carbonate from salt lakes in Qinghai reached 75,000 tons, accounting for 23% of the national total production.

In the international salt - lake lithium product market, the products from Qinghai salt lakes account for about 20% of the market share.

Currently, more than 10 enterprises in the Qaidam Basin have overcome the technologies for extracting lithium from different salt lakes, with a production capacity of 120,000 tons of lithium carbonate, 10,000 tons of lithium chloride, and 1,500 tons of metallic lithium.

From the perspective of the national energy strategy, the salt - lake resources in Qinghai are one of the important bargaining chips for the future new - energy industry.

China has relatively few lithium - ore resources. Picture source: Zhiyan Consulting

More importantly, in the process of developing salt lakes, China has advanced from primitive extraction methods to leading in technological innovation.

Let's not mention Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., the largest salt - lake enterprise in China. During its more than 60 - year development, the enterprise has broken through a large number of key technologies for salt - lake potassium, magnesium, and lithium salts, increasing the exploitable amount of potassium resources by more than four times and realizing the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements.

In addition to Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., Wugang Salt Lake Co., Ltd. also overcame the “technology for efficient lithium extraction from raw brine” in 2021.

The high - altitude climate on the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau and the complexity of different mineral compositions in salt lakes of various sizes are originally unfavorable natural factors. However, with the experience and innovation gained from the development of salt - lake resources over the years, these disadvantages in natural endowments have instead become technological advantages.

If China can solve the “most difficult problems”, it will be even more proficient in developing easier - to - exploit salt lakes.

Therefore, Chinese salt - lake enterprises have gone abroad to develop salt - lake resources in other countries.

On the last day of 2021, the Qinghai provincial government issued a communiqué, proposing to build Qinghai into a world - class salt - lake industrial base, and the plan has been formulated.