Cultivating postdoctoral talent to forge national competitiveness. On March 21, 2026, the GEM 2026 Postdoctoral Final Report and 2026 Postdoctoral Research Proposal Seminar (hereinafter referred to as the “Seminar”) was held with great success at GEM’s Shenzhen headquarters. A total of 17 postdoctoral fellows participated in the defense. Experts and scholars from prestigious institutions including Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Shenzhen University gathered to witness GEM’s significant achievements in the cultivation of high-end talent and the deep integration of industry, academia, and research.

The seminar was attended by Professor Li Jizhen, Chairman of the Board and Party Secretary of Tsinghua University Asset Management Company and Deputy Director of the Tsinghua University Research Center for Technological Innovation; Professor Li Baohua from Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School; Professor Yin Huayi from Wuhan University; Professor Wang Dong from Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen); Professors Yu Mingzhu, Ren Xiangzhong, and Liu Jianhong from Shenzhen University; and Professor Xu Kaihua, Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Electronic Waste Recycling, Director of the Academic Committee of the Key Laboratory of National Energy Metal Resources and New Materials, and Chairman of GEM Co., Ltd. The panel of experts conducted rigorous reviews and provided insightful guidance on the research achievements of the postdoctoral fellows through on-site evaluations.

GEM held the 2026 Postdoctoral Final Report and 2026 Postdoctoral Research Proposal Seminar

As a supervising mentor of the GEM Postdoctoral Research Station, Professor Xu Kaihua began his speech by expressing sincere gratitude to the universities, research institutes, experts, and professors who have long supported GEM’s postdoctoral training efforts. Professor Xu Kaihua reviewed the achievements of the GEM Postdoctoral Research Station since its establishment over a decade ago. He noted that the station has cultivated over 60 postdoctoral fellows, built GEM’s advanced innovation system in the global industry, and helped break through a number of key technologies, forming the backbone of the company’s transformation, upgrading, and global development over the past decade. GEM established the postdoctoral research station not only to meet the needs of the company’s innovation and development, but also to address major national strategic needs and enhance the country’s core competitiveness. The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. GEM’s postdoctoral training efforts must focus on key innovations aligned with major national needs: first, the recycling of key metals, focusing on nickel, cobalt, tungsten, gallium, germanium, indium, and others to ensure the security of national strategic resources; second, power lithium battery recycling to close the “from green to green” lifecycle loop for new energy; and third, the core manufacturing of new energy materials, tackling key technologies in areas such as ultra-high energy density materials and solid-state battery materials—a challenge to be pursued with determination to make a critical contribution to the industrialization of solid-state lithium batteries. He also emphasized that cultivating interdisciplinary talent with expertise in both technology and management is equally crucial. GEM will collaborate with Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management to systematically develop management leaders, providing a solid talent foundation for the company’s goal of becoming a world-class enterprise and achieving a scale of 100 billion RMB.

Professor Xu Kaihua, Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Electronic Waste Recycling, Director of the Academic Committee of the Key Laboratory of National Energy Metal Resources and New Materials, and Chairman of GEM Co., Ltd., delivers a speech

In his speech, Professor Li Jizhen expressed feeling a sense of familiarity and awe upon his visit to GEM’s Shenzhen headquarters. He highly praised GEM’s practices in deeply integrating technological innovation with industrial innovation. He noted that the state currently places great emphasis on the principal role of enterprises in technological innovation, encouraging them to participate in national science and technology projects and propose industry-specific research topics. As a leading enterprise in the circular economy and new energy materials sectors, GEM serves as an excellent example in this regard. He emphasized that in the era of artificial intelligence, management must keep pace with technological development, or even anticipate it. By continuously introducing management expertise from top universities like Tsinghua, GEM has created an environment conducive to dedicated research and creative inspiration for its high-level talent. He expressed anticipation for deeper collaboration between Tsinghua University and GEM in management and the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, working together to build a modern industrial system, supporting GEM in fulfilling its mission of “Limited Resources, Unlimited Recycling” and in achieving its ambitious goals of becoming a world-class enterprise and a Global Fortune 500 company.

Professor Li Jizhen, Chairman of the Board and Party Secretary of Tsinghua University Asset Management Company and Deputy Director of the Tsinghua University Research Center for Technological Innovation, delivers a speech

The seminar featured two separate sessions: one for Economics and Management, and another for Metallurgy, Chemistry, and Materials. The Economics and Management session was held first. Dr. Fang Di (a graduate of University College London), a postdoctoral fellow jointly cultivated by Tsinghua University and GEM, delivered her final report titled “Research on the ESG Value of Global Supply Chains.” This research, grounded in the trend toward green development in global supply chains, used GEM as a case study to deeply analyze the internal mechanisms of corporate ESG value chains and systematically theorized GEM’s ESG value practices within its green industrial chain. The research’s value was highly praised by the attending experts. Following review by the evaluation committee comprising experts such as Professor Li Jizhen, Professor Wang Dong, and Professor Yu Mingzhu, Dr. Fang Di completed her postdoctoral program with a grade of “Excellent.”

Group photo of the Economics and Management postdoctoral final report review committee with Dr. Fang Di

Subsequently, the Metallurgy, Chemistry, and Materials session for final reports and research proposals proceeded in a tightly scheduled manner. Eight postdoctoral fellows—Xie Congkun, Wan Wenjing, Yin Kangling, Xu Weicheng, Huang Zhe, Ji Rui, Zhang Zhili, and Zhi Wenke—presented their reports systematically. Their research topics included hydrogen catalysis materials, core materials for solid-state lithium batteries, sodium-ion battery cathode materials, lithium battery resource utilization, efficient extraction of nickel and cobalt resources, and resource utilization of laterite nickel ore tailing. They reported on their research approaches, key technological breakthroughs, innovative achievements, and prospects for industrial application during their station tenure. Their research closely aligned with GEM’s core and cutting-edge research areas, such as solid-state battery materials, hydrogen fuel cell materials, key metal recycling, and power lithium battery resource utilization, fully demonstrating the deep integration of industry and academia, where “research topics originate from industrial needs, and results are applied in production.” The expert committee listened attentively to the reports and conducted in-depth inquiries and discussions. Following thorough deliberations, Professor Li Baohua, Chair of the evaluation committee, announced the resolution: all eight postdoctoral fellows successfully completed their programs with a grade of “Excellent.”

Meanwhile, eight new postdoctoral fellows who recently joined the GEM Postdoctoral Research Station—Deng Bohan, Chen Huanhui, Wang Min, Zhou Xiangxing, Chen Mengjiong, Deng Yiquan, Xia Baokai, and Li Xiaoqiao—delivered impressive research proposal presentations in key technology areas such as high-energy-density cathode materials, key materials for solid-state batteries, green hydrogen technology, and high-entropy alloys. Their topics integrated current global industrial trends with major national needs. They systematically explained their research approaches, technical plans, and expected outcomes, fully demonstrating the innovative synergy created by combining their own knowledge strengths with the company’s core needs. The experts conducted in-depth analyses of each fellow’s proposal and provided constructive feedback and forward-looking suggestions. After thorough evaluation, the expert panel unanimously approved the research proposal defenses of all new postdoctoral fellows and offered enthusiastic guidance and encouragement for their upcoming research.

Professor Li Baohua (from Tsinghua University), Chair of the research proposal evaluation committee, provides comments on the presentations

Group photo of the postdoctoral fellows (exiting and entering) with the evaluation committee members

Finally, Professor Xu Kaihua extended his warm congratulations to the postdoctoral fellows who successfully completed their programs and those whose research proposals were approved. He encouraged them to boldly tackle tough technological challenges, aligning their personal innovation and growth with the company’s competitiveness and the nation’s major needs, thereby making technological innovation a driver of national competitiveness. “The future belongs to the postdoctoral fellows, it belongs to GEM, and it belongs to China!” Professor Xu Kaihua stated passionately. He affirmed that GEM will steadfastly deepen industry-academia-research cooperation with top-tier domestic and international universities, continuously expanding the breadth and depth of university-enterprise collaboration to cultivate innovative elites. This will provide fertile ground for the growth of more postdoctoral talents and contribute GEM’s strength to enhancing national competitiveness.

Since the establishment of its postdoctoral research station in 2015, GEM has cultivated over 60 postdoctoral fellows and collaborated with more than 20 world-class universities and domestic “Double First-Class” universities. Nearly 90% of the postdoctoral fellows who have completed their programs choose to stay at GEM to innovate and start their careers, becoming scientific research leaders or management backbones in various fields within the company. As the saying goes, “ten years to sharpen a sword.” This high-end talent team, centered around postdoctoral fellows, is becoming a spearhead force for GEM in tackling critical technologies such as key metal recycling, closed-loop power lithium batteries, and core manufacturing of new energy materials, continuously injecting innovative momentum into the company’s efforts to forge a first-class core competitiveness in the industry.