Plan powers charge of new-type battery industry

Editor's note: China has released a plan for the development of the emerging industry of new types of battery during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period. Xinhua News Agency spoke to Nan Cewen, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Liu Wenqiang, vice-president of the China Center for Information Industry Development, on the future of this emerging sector. Below are excerpts of the interviews. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

New types of batteries, including lithium, sodium and flow batteries, are high-efficiency devices for storing and converting electrical energy. The focus of innovation is new operating principles, materials, structures and manufacturing processes. The output value of China's new-type battery industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($149 billion) during the past five years.

The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a window of opportunity for China to consolidate its competitive edge in the industry. The plan envisions the initial large-scale application of all-solid-state batteries and aims for a life of 15,000 cycles for long-life lithium batteries by 2030.

The plan builds on China's strengths in industrial scale and supply chains and aims to capitalize on the strategic opportunities arising from the global energy transition and the new technological revolution.

In the past, batteries were often viewed simply as components rather than as a stand-alone industry. The plan elevates the industry, recognizing it as an important pillar for building a new energy system, fostering new quality productive forces and serving as a foundation for emerging industries such as energy storage, the low-altitude economy and intelligent robotics.

The plan emphasizes an end-to-end approach that covers new mechanisms, materials, structures and processes. It calls for parallel exploration of mainstream lithium-ion battery systems and next-generation technologies.

It is possible for next-generation battery technologies and today's mainstream systems to mature within the same industrial cycle, complementing each other.

The plan also encourages expanding the application of new types of batteries beyond traditional vehicles to diverse fields, including consumer electronics, transportation, energy storage and frontier applications. This will enable China's new-type battery industry to spearhead the global energy transition and industrial transformation through a virtuous cycle in which expanding application scenarios generate demand, which in turn, drives technological upgrading.

Digitalization, green transformation and greater integration are central to this industrial upgrading. The plan outlines tasks to enhance digital and intelligent development, accelerate the industry's green transformation and build an integrated industry ecosystem. By supporting technological breakthroughs and upgrading, it seeks to unlock the innovation potential of the entire industry chain.

Collectively, these measures indicate a shift in industrial competition from individual products to broader systems and ecosystems. Going forward, those who proactively strengthen supply-chain resilience, shape standards and rules, and develop a global presence will be better positioned to lead the industry's future development.