Domestic firms team up with UK partner on graphene

China and the United Kingdom may soon become the world's biggest producers of graphene, following an agreement to manufacture it in eastern China.

UK-based advanced materials engineering company Versarien and partners in China have struck a deal to build a graphene factory in Jinan, East China's Shandong province.

Graphene is a highly conductive, incredibly strong, two-dimensional material made of carbon. The material was only recently discovered, and engineers around the world are looking into a range of commercial uses for it, including superfast smartphone chargers and filters that remove salt from seawater.