A seasoned lithium battery executive now helms the nation's premier baijiu maker, signaling a bold foray into the energy storage arena. In August 2026, Yibin Puhua New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. was formally established with a registered capital of 150 million yuan. The company, whose largest shareholder is Push Group under the Wuliangye umbrella, lists battery manufacturing, graphite and carbon product production, lithium material R&D, and resource recycling as its core business scope. The second-largest shareholder, holding a 40% stake, is Huayi Qingchuang, the technology commercialization platform for Academician Ouyang Minggao's workstation in Yibin. This partner is renowned for its pioneering "one-step" silicon-carbon anode preparation process, which consumes just one-tenth of the energy required by traditional graphitization methods, and its products are compatible with all-solid-state batteries. Following more than a year of technical collaboration, this joint venture marks the pivotal transition of prior technological groundwork into industrial-scale production.
The creation of this lithium material firm comes less than two months after Deng Min assumed the role of Party Secretary and proposed Chairman of the Wuliangye Group. With nearly three decades of experience in the chemical and lithium sectors, Deng previously spearheaded the construction of a complete lithium iron phosphate industry chain at Tianyuan Co., supplying products directly to leading firms like CATL. His track record demonstrates a proven ability to steer traditional chemical enterprises through a successful energy transition. While a 150 million yuan capital injection may seem modest against the multi-billion-yuan investments typical in the lithium industry, the combination of a specialized leader, pre-positioned technology, and a robust local industrial cluster suggests this diversification from liquor to batteries is far more than a fleeting capital maneuver.
As the baijiu sector endures a deep adjustment and the lithium industry cycles through capacity consolidation, the question emerges: is this white liquor titan's entry into lithium materials a strategic gambit for a second growth curve, or a calculated response to leverage the local industrial ecosystem?
The Three-Step Strategy: Wuliangye's Path into New Energy
Wuliangye's new energy blueprint has advanced along a clear trajectory of "internal cost reduction, financial investment, and manufacturing foray," completing a three-tier strategic upgrade in as many years. The exploratory phase began in April 2023 with the wholly-owned establishment of Sichuan Wuliangye New Energy Investment Company, capitalized at 1 billion yuan, to serve as a unified investment platform. That year, it also acquired stakes in Sichuan Heguang Tongcheng Photovoltaic and formed a joint venture with PetroChina for new green energy services, focusing on charging infrastructure and energy storage technology. These moves were primarily aimed at reducing energy costs within its industrial parks and substituting green power, positioning the efforts as supporting infrastructure and financial investments.
By 2025, the strategy deepened. Wuliangye invested 200 million yuan to co-found Yibin Yingfa Derui, joining Yingfa Deyao to enter the 16GW HPBC photovoltaic cell manufacturing segment. A collaboration with LONGi Green Energy led to the installation of on-site distributed solar and a 10MW/20MWh centralized storage station, closing the energy loop for its facilities. A strategic cooperation agreement signed with CATL the same year focused on zero-carbon factories and supply chain integration, extending the synergy from energy self-sufficiency to broader industrial chain connections.
Following Deng Min's arrival in 2026, the strategy pivoted decisively toward the deep end of the industrial chain. The newly formed Yibin Puhua New Materials is dedicated to advancing cutting-edge materials like silicon-carbon anodes while simultaneously developing battery recycling capabilities. This creates a foundational "materials-manufacturing-recycling" structure, formally transitioning Wuliangye from an energy supporter to an active industry participant. Notably, Wuliangye's earlier investment in Kaiyi Automobile for vehicle manufacturing underscores a consistent approach of aligning with Yibin's local industrial upgrade trajectory.
Industry Landscape: A Map of New Energy Investments by Listed Liquor Firms
Wuliangye is not the only baijiu company exploring new energy. Public records through 2026 show several major listed liquor firms have entered the field, though with varying degrees of commitment, broadly falling into two tiers. The first tier consists of industry leaders making deep investments to cultivate a second growth curve. For example, Kweichow Moutai has focused on green transformation aligned with its core business, exploring photovoltaic and storage applications with CATL. It invests in solid-state battery and storage technology ventures through its funds and leverages distiller's grain biomass for circular economy initiatives, all in service of building a zero-carbon distillery without moving into manufacturing. Luzhou Laojiao has primarily pursued financial investments, establishing a 2 billion yuan residential photovoltaic fund through its capital arm. Yanghe has set up a 3 billion yuan investment platform to participate in local new energy funds and installed 47MW of distributed solar at its facilities, pursuing a dual-track approach of investment and self-use.
The second tier includes regional leaders concentrating on green upgrades within their facilities. Companies like Shanxi Fenjiu and Gujing Gongjiu have optimized their energy structures through distributed solar, biogas recovery, and green electricity procurement. Their primary objectives are cost reduction, carbon mitigation, and meeting dual-carbon compliance requirements, with no extension into industrial manufacturing. Overall, top-tier liquor firms, buoyed by strong cash flows, initiate new energy projects from their own operational scenarios, typically following the evolutionary path of self-use cost reduction to outward investment and then to manufacturing. Compared to its peers, Wuliangye has currently achieved the deepest penetration into lithium battery manufacturing and the most extensive industrial chain integration.
Converging Cycles: The Logic Behind Baijiu's Pivot to Lithium
The collective shift of liquor companies toward new energy is the result of converging factors including industry cycles, regional advantages, and local government strategy. Within the baijiu sector, growth anxiety under a shrinking market is the primary driver. In the first half of 2026, the output of regulated-scale baijiu enterprises nationwide totaled 1.679 million kiloliters, a 4.7% year-on-year decrease, marking nine consecutive years of production decline. Over 80% of distilleries saw profit margins fall, the total value of finished goods inventory across the industry surpassed 300 billion yuan, and price inversions have become widespread. Wuliangye itself reported revenue of 60.945 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of 21.511 billion yuan for the first three quarters of 2025, down 10.26% and 13.72% year-on-year, respectively. With the core business plateauing, new energy offers a value outlet that aligns with policy trends and growth potential, also serving the group's strategic objective of exceeding 100 billion yuan in revenue from diversified industries.
On the lithium front, the cyclical recovery and structural opportunities in anode materials provide the industrial rationale for Wuliangye's timing. According to GGII data, after a significant industry shakeout from 2024 to 2025, low-end capacity for ordinary artificial graphite is being phased out. Capacity utilization rates in the second half of 2026 are projected to hover around 90%. Supply-demand tightness is concentrated in high-end categories, with energy storage-grade artificial graphite facing persistent supply shortages and prices expected to climb to 23,000 yuan per ton. Daily throughput for new CVD silicon-carbon processes has increased to 150-500kg per furnace, and shipments of silicon-based composite materials are expected to reach 58,000 tons in 2026. Looking ahead, as 4680 battery production scales up, clear market space remains in high-value, niche segments.
For Wuliangye, entering the graphite and carbon products field at this juncture allows it to bypass the most brutal phase of price wars, making a right-side entry less risky. Furthermore, leveraging the proximity of major battery producers like CATL in Yibin, it can target the mid-to-high-end anode material market for energy storage and fast-charging applications, steering clear of homogenized low-end competition. Yibin's industrial cluster advantage is evident: the city produced 176GWh of power batteries in 2025, accounting for 16% of China's total, with CATL planning a total capacity exceeding 300GWh in the region. As a local industrial champion, Wuliangye enjoys natural advantages in logistics and supporting infrastructure costs.
At a deeper level, this move reflects the industrial coordination of local state-owned capital. Deng Min's cross-company appointment is essentially an optimal resource allocation within the Yibin state-owned assets system. His team's proven expertise in integrated chemical materials production and cost management provides a potential edge in establishing cost and quality advantages within a niche sector.
The Key Variable: Deng Min's Mission for a Thirty-Year Lithium Veteran
The market's intense focus on Wuliangye's entry into lithium is largely due to Deng Min, whose professional background directly dispels the "liquor companies don't understand lithium" skepticism. During his tenure at Tianyuan Co., Deng oversaw the creation of an integrated "chlorine-titanium-phosphorus-iron-lithium" circular industrial chain, establishing 150,000 tons of annual lithium iron phosphate cathode material capacity and successfully integrating its products into CATL's supply system. In 2025, Tianyuan's lithium iron phosphate output reached 49,400 tons, a 99.19% year-on-year increase, with lithium business revenue doubling to 1.091 billion yuan, becoming the primary driver of the company's return to profitability. From traditional chlor-alkali chemicals to new energy materials, Deng has experienced the entire transition process, accumulating practical expertise in capacity construction, customer certification, and cost control.
Industry analysts suggest Deng's appointment brings three key advantages to Wuliangye's new energy venture: mature operational experience in the industrial chain that can shorten project lead times, established relationships with leading customers that facilitate rapid sales channel development, and the ability to coordinate within the state-owned system to efficiently access local industrial resources. In a sense, Wuliangye's current move is not a blind leap by an outsider, but an industrial extension backed by a specialized team.
Long-Term Outlook: Exploring a Second Curve in an Era of Plateau
From an industry cycle perspective, green transformation under carbon neutrality goals will gradually become standard practice across many sectors. However, most companies will likely remain at the level of facility upgrades and financial investments. Those that truly venture into manufacturing will be a select group of leaders with distinct locational and resource advantages. For Wuliangye, the new energy business will likely follow a path of "support first, expand later; materials first, complete systems later."
Yet, potential risks are substantial. Gross margins across mainstream lithium materials are currently low, making profitability difficult for new entrants. The business logic of baijiu brand management differs fundamentally from heavy-asset lithium manufacturing, and building cross-industry management and talent systems will involve significant integration costs. In the silicon-carbon anode field, porous carbon is moving from samples to pilot and 10,000-ton scales, and CVD equipment is scaling from kilograms to over 100 kilograms. This segment faces potential price wars, slower-than-expected growth in power customer demand, and risks of oversupply if traditional giants expand capacity.
The initial 150 million yuan investment is more of a strategic test. It is essentially an attempt to secure growth space for the next decade as the core liquor business enters a mature phase. As Yibin's industrial identity evolves from the "City of Baijiu" to the "City of Power Batteries," Wuliangye's cross-industry journey serves as a microcosm of traditional consumer capital entering the high-end new energy manufacturing sector. Whether a battery story can truly grow from the distillery's vats remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the liquor industry's quest for a second growth curve is just beginning.
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