BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese astronomers have discovered the most lithium-rich giant star ever known and it could shed new light on the evolution of the universe.

With 3,000 times more lithium than a normal star, it was found in the direction of Ophiuchus, on the north side of the galactic disk, at a distance of 4,500 light years from Earth.

A research team, led by astronomers from National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, made the discovery with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) located in NAOC's Xinglong Observatory, in north China's Hebei Province.

The results of the study were published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.