Lithium shares rose in Hong Kong market. CATL up nearly 9%; Ganfeng Lithium up 5%; Tianqi Lithium up 4%; BYD Company up over 3%.

Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL posted first-quarter results that surpassed expectations on Wednesday, strengthening its market dominance even as EV demand softens.

CATL's first-quarter net profit grew 48.5% from a year earlier to 20.7 billion yuan ($3.03 billion), versus a 57.1% increase in the fourth quarter, a stock exchange filing showed.

Revenue rose 52.5% to 129.1 billion yuan, against a 36.6% increase in the fourth quarter and above four analysts' forecast of a 35.7% gain.

CATL has been expanding capacity for producing batteries for energy storage systems (ESS), betting on robust growth in demand as more countries seek faster development of renewables after the Iran war led to a spike in global energy costs.