XTC New Energy Materials, a unit of Chinese metals and rare earths producer Xiamen Tungsten, said on Thursday it planned to invest no less than 10 billion yuan (US$1.55 billion) in a lithium battery materials project in Sichuan province. Battery demand is booming in top global auto market China, where sales of new energy vehicles leapt 182per cent year-on-year in August, prompting a flurry of investment in new capacity to produce battery ingredients.