China has issued a development plan for its new-type battery industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), setting targets for industrial growth, technological innovation and product quality.
The plan, jointly issued by multiple government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, aims for steady industry growth and stronger innovation capabilities across the entire industrial chain by 2030.
By 2030, China aims to achieve breakthroughs in advanced electrode materials, new electrolytes and high-end auxiliary materials, and make major progress in the development of new battery systems.
The plan envisions the initial large-scale application of all-solid-state batteries and a cycle life of 15,000 cycles for long-life lithium batteries by 2030.
Product defect rates at leading enterprises are expected to reach the parts-per-billion level by 2030, according to the plan.
New-type batteries are high-efficiency devices or systems for storing and converting electrical energy, including lithium, sodium and flow batteries, with innovation focused on new operating principles, materials, structures and manufacturing processes.
In China, electric vehicles, the low-altitude economy, consumer electronics and humanoid robotics are generating demand for high-performance batteries, while battery-based energy storage is being used to support renewable energy integration and improve power grid stability.
China's new-type battery industry saw its output value exceed 1 trillion yuan (about 149 billion U.S. dollars) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to official figures.
This is China's first dedicated national-level plan for the battery industry, said Nan Cewen, a professor at Tsinghua University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Nan said that the plan builds on the country's industrial scale and supply-chain strengths to guide the industry's future development.
It outlines 19 priority tasks across five areas, including innovation throughout the industrial chain, industrial upgrading and development of the industrial system.
Key measures include accelerating technological breakthroughs needed for the industrial-scale production of all-solid-state batteries and developing a product supply system centered on lithium batteries, complemented by sodium and flow batteries.
Other measures include improving the safety and all-climate performance of power batteries for new energy vehicles, accelerating the development of standards for key technologies shared across the industry and advanced technologies suited to practical use, strengthening intellectual property protection and improving battery life-cycle traceability.
The plan calls for faster integration and innovation involving new-type battery technologies, clean energy and end-use applications, as well as closer integration of international trade and investment in the industry.
