Growth rates in the power and energy storage sectors are diverging, and against the backdrop of expansion within the existing market, the lithium battery industry's dual-driver structure of power and energy storage has taken shape. The overall shipment growth rate for lithium batteries in 2026 is projected at 45%, with the total scale expected to reach 3TWh by 2027. In the power market, domestic vehicle sales are experiencing short-term weakness, while incremental support comes from rising export volumes and increased average battery capacity per vehicle. The energy storage sector is growing at a pace exceeding 60%, with its share of total shipments continuously rising, gradually becoming the primary driver of industry growth. New production capacity is increasingly concentrated among leading companies, with orders and resources consistently flowing towards industry leaders with advantages in delivery and quality control. Upstream materials are facing a comprehensive tightening, with prices of key materials like lithium salts, separators, and copper foil rising, leading to a reversal in the supply-demand dynamics of the industrial chain. Equipment is evolving towards higher speed, precision, and integration, with ongoing demand for retrofitting existing production lines. Globally, the competitive advantage of China's lithium battery industry chain continues to expand, with overseas expansion in energy storage and power batteries each having distinct strategic focuses.
The 2026 (19th) High-Tech Lithium Battery Industry Summit commenced on July 14th at the Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Airport Hotel. The two-day conference, themed "Divergent Growth in Power and Storage Amidst Market Expansion," gathered over 400 leading companies from various segments and more than 700 senior executives from across the entire industry chain, covering batteries, vehicles, energy storage, materials, and equipment.
Key Insights from the Summit
At the opening session titled "The Future Path for Lithium Enterprises," keynote speeches were delivered by Dr. Zhang Xiaofei, Chairman of High-Tech Lithium Battery, Liu Jianhua, Co-founder and President of EVE Energy Co., Ltd. (SHE: 300014), Xu Junhai, General Manager of Inpai Battery, and Dr. Zhao Shengyu, Chairman of Hymson Laser Technology Group Co., Ltd. (SHA: 688559).
Dr. Zhang Xiaofei delivered the opening remarks and a keynote speech titled "The Outlook is Excellent, Focus on Securing Resources." He noted that the overall lithium battery shipment volume in 2026 is expected to maintain a growth rate of approximately 45%, with the industry's total scale projected to reach 3TWh by 2027, a pace faster than earlier forecasts. This growth is jointly supported by the power battery and energy storage battery segments.
In the power battery sector, overseas new energy vehicle markets are driving significant incremental demand, with a substantial increase in vehicle exports and the average battery capacity per vehicle rising to 66 kWh, leading to considerable new demand for supporting batteries. The domestic passenger vehicle market is under short-term pressure, but a recovery in domestic new energy vehicle sales growth to around 10% is anticipated by 2027. Overseas power battery demand is expected to maintain a growth rate of over 35% in 2027, making international markets a stable pillar for power battery growth.
The energy storage sector exhibits even more pronounced growth elasticity. Energy storage battery shipments in 2026 are forecast to increase by over 60% year-on-year, approaching 1TWh for the full year. Energy storage's share of total lithium battery shipments is set to exceed 38%, with expectations to rise above 40% by 2027 and potentially approach 50% by 2028. Following a previous period of price declines, energy storage product prices have seen a slight recovery, but simultaneous upstream raw material price increases are shifting industry competition from a pure price war towards comprehensive value competition.
Globalization in energy storage is progressing faster than in power batteries, with Europe and Australia becoming key regions for overseas energy storage project deployment, and demand in these markets continues to be released. Policies governing new production capacity have tightened, with stricter approvals for new conventional liquid lithium battery capacity, while approvals for semi-solid and solid-state related capacity remain relatively more accessible.
Planned new capacity additions for the industry in 2026 total 1.5TWh, with 70% of this concentrated in leading battery manufacturers. The industry's total effective capacity for the year is estimated at 3TWh, comprising 1.7TWh for power and 1.3TWh for energy storage, marking an industry transition towards optimizing existing capacity. Small and medium-sized enterprises lacking capital, technology, and large-scale delivery capabilities face increasing pressure, as market orders and raw material resources progressively concentrate towards industry leaders.
For equipment and material suppliers, the core path to stable development lies in deepening services to leading battery manufacturers and supporting production line upgrades. The market for production line technical retrofitting continues to expand, accounting for 15%-25% of equipment business revenue in 2026, a figure projected to rise to 30% by 2028.
Energy storage cell specifications are continuously being upgraded, with the industry gradually transitioning from 280Ah towards larger capacities of 500+Ah and 600+Ah cells. Production line upgrades across the industry uniformly follow five key development directions: high speed, high precision, high stability, high integration, and high automation. In terms of cost-benefit analysis for retrofits, mid-stream assembly line modifications offer the highest value, with priority order being mid-stream > front-end > back-end. Retrofits for large-capacity cells and semi-solid production lines require collaborative R&D between equipment manufacturers and battery companies.
The supply-demand landscape for upstream raw materials is shifting. Overall demand for various key materials in 2027 is expected to grow by over 20% year-on-year, with tight supply anticipated across cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, separators, and copper foil. After years of losses for many material companies, product prices are rising alongside recovering demand, and raw material supply constraints will continue to impact battery capacity utilization. Upstream-downstream partnerships are adjusting accordingly, with battery and material companies deepening long-term, binding cooperation to stabilize supply chain delivery.
On the technology roadmap, semi-solid battery commercialization is progressing faster than all-solid-state. A small-scale industrialization period for solid-state batteries is expected from late 2027 into 2028, making the next two years a critical window for industry chain players to position themselves in solid-state technology. Currently, leading domestic battery companies are all engaged in R&D related to semi-solid and solid-state technologies. However, achieving mass production of all-solid-state batteries presents significant challenges. Only leading companies possessing mass production process capabilities, capital, and supporting industry chain integration are positioned for successful implementation. Disparities among players in the solid-state sector will become increasingly apparent after 2028.
Dr. Zhang emphasized that China's lithium battery industry's long-term global competitive advantage is built on a complete industry chain, mature mass production processes, and a scalable cost system. It will be difficult for overseas industry chains to catch up in the short term, making the lithium battery industry a key arena for mid-to-long-term global industrial competition.
Industry Leaders' Perspectives
Liu Jianhua, Co-founder and President of EVE Energy, delivered a speech titled "EVE Energy's Choices in the New Energy Era." He noted that the recent awarding of the 2025 National Top Science and Technology Award to Academician Chen Liquan underscores that the lithium battery industry has become a national core industry representing China's energy technology prowess. Guided by policy, the domestic lithium battery industry has officially moved past a phase of blind expansion and low-price internal competition, fully entering a high-quality development cycle focused on R&D, manufacturing, and synergistic advancement of the upstream and downstream industry chain.
Analyzing the industry landscape objectively, Liu stated that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) (SHE: 300750) and BYD Company Limited (SZSE: 002594), as industry leaders, bear the primary pressure for industry development while also setting a benchmark for global expansion. In response, EVE Energy has chosen a differentiated competitive path, establishing a trinity electrochemical energy system comprising hydrogen, lithium, and sodium, while simultaneously advancing solid-state battery R&D. This multi-technology approach aims to mitigate risks associated with reliance on a single technology track.
In the hydrogen sector, the company's self-developed AEM electrolyzers have achieved kilowatt to megawatt-scale applications. For sodium-ion batteries, it has completed delivery of overseas 100-megawatt-level projects and plans to further increase investment in the sodium battery industry, striving for a leading position. In the lithium battery track, the focus is on large cylindrical and large-format prismatic cells, having launched a 628Ah energy storage cell in 2022 and iterating to a 702Ah product this year. Leveraging its diverse technology portfolio, EVE Energy has established a stable business structure supported by three pillars: consumer, power, and energy storage batteries.
Consumer batteries focus on near-body energy scenarios for the Internet of Everything, developing high-energy-density batteries suitable for AI, medical, and smart wearables. Power batteries follow a dual-line strategy, with its open-source battery brand for commercial vehicles gaining increasing recognition and full-year shipments expected to grow over 100% year-on-year. Its 46-series large cylindrical batteries have become the preferred choice for high-end automakers, consistently supplied for BMW X3 and iX3 models. In energy storage, its Mr.Big large battery offers distinct advantages, with 628Ah cell shipments expected to exceed 10GWh this year and orders in hand for next year already surpassing 30GWh.
Liu concluded that upward industry development requires division of labor, cooperation, and collaborative innovation across the entire industry chain, not cutthroat competition. EVE Energy maintains an open and cooperative stance and will continue to leverage its differentiated technological strengths to collaborate with industry partners in building a globally competitive Chinese new energy industry.
Xu Junhai, General Manager of Inpai Battery, shared insights on "From Power to Storage: Automotive-Grade Intelligent Manufacturing Building the Safety Foundation for Lithium Batteries." He mentioned his experience growing alongside GAC's nearly three decades of vehicle manufacturing and over a decade of battery R&D, witnessing China's automotive industry achieve a technological leapfrog. He emphasized that the core prerequisite for the large-scale adoption of new energy is intrinsic safety. Fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydrogen all have inherent safety risks, and large-capacity energy storage batteries also carry fire and explosion risks, making the safety red line non-negotiable. Every widespread application of new energy is fundamentally dependent on achieving intrinsic safety.
Established within the GAC ecosystem in 2022, Inpai is not merely a simple business extension. It leverages accumulated vehicle manufacturing and battery R&D expertise to build a vertically integrated safety loop encompassing "vehicle-battery-storage," fully applying mature automotive-grade standards to the energy storage field. Its "Cartridge Battery" technology, launched in 2021, met the new national battery safety standards scheduled for 2026 implementation five years ahead of time. Cartridge Battery 2.0 in 2023 achieved non-ignition upon bullet penetration of the entire pack. In 2025, it completed the industry's first three extreme cell tests, where cells subjected to violent twisting ("twisting like hemp"), nail penetration plus boiling, and Z-shaped bending did not ignite or emit smoke and could still power a light bulb.
In intelligent manufacturing, Inpai has created a digital-native factory, building a virtual factory simulation before implementing the physical production line, integrating over 15,000 full-process manufacturing data points. Its ultra-high-speed CTP production line operates at a cycle time of 90 PPM, compared to an industry maximum of only 50 PPM, with its PACK line footprint reduced by 50% compared to industry standards. Cell model changeovers can be completed in hours, with fixture switching times under 3 minutes. A full-scale AI vision system enables 100% online inspection, integrating over 100 2D/3D AI algorithms to ensure zero-defect output from lamination processes. An automated closed-loop system for electrode coating density significantly improves control precision, reducing lithium plating safety risks by 41%.
Xu pointed out that while application scenarios differ for power and energy storage batteries, underlying pain points like thermal runaway, lithium plating-induced expansion, and insufficient cycle life share common roots. The stringent verification system of automotive-grade standards can comprehensively elevate safety standards for energy storage.
Regarding technology routes, Xu analogized to autonomous driving, suggesting that semi-solid is currently the optimal solution balancing mass production, cost, and high safety. Leveraging its self-developed in-situ polymerization technology, Inpai launched the world's first 587Ah "Da Fang Wu Yu Qian Kun" semi-solid energy storage cell, featuring a unique corner-less stacking structure that optimizes product performance across shape, field, force, and safety dimensions. The semi-solid battery passed a 200°C hot box test, achieving safety performance comparable to all-solid-state batteries.
Xu stated that the energy storage industry is gradually moving away from low-price internal competition and entering a stage of comprehensive value competition, with a significant market gap for high-safety, large-capacity energy storage products. Inpai will continue iterating its semi-solid cell technology, accelerate overseas energy storage market deployment, and build a complete energy ecosystem integrating generation, grid, load, and storage. Inpai looks forward to collaborating with industry peers to solidify the "safety foundation" of the lithium battery industry and jointly create a more reliable and sustainable green energy era.
Dr. Gao Xiang, Chairman and CTO of Tailan New Energy, delivered a speech titled "Initiating a New Cycle of Industrialization for Solid-State Batteries." Addressing the long-standing divergence between semi-solid and all-solid-state routes, Dr. Gao proposed a core industry development judgment of parallel development for both tracks. He stated that the two technological paths are not competitively opposed but have distinct development focuses. Semi-solid batteries require only minor modifications to existing lithium battery production lines for mass production, offering controllable costs and fast implementation, capable of quickly covering existing markets like passenger vehicles, energy storage, and light electric vehicles, making them the optimal commercialization solution currently. All-solid-state batteries share less than 50% process commonality with traditional liquid lithium batteries, with upstream electrolyte materials and supporting production equipment still immature, making large-scale mass production difficult in the short term. Their current role is primarily to cultivate the industry chain ecosystem and push performance boundaries.
To address the solid-solid interface impedance challenge hindering solid-state battery mass production, Tailan New Energy independently developed its core ISFD technology. Relying on a high-conductivity lithium-oxygen composite electrolyte and interface softening process, it simultaneously optimizes from material and process levels, making it adaptable to both semi-solid and all-solid-state products. Based on this underlying technology, the company has proposed a 4-3-2-1 material reduction manufacturing route, progressively removing separators, electrolytes, and anodes to continuously enhance battery energy density and intrinsic safety while lowering cost per watt-hour.
Currently, Tailan's solid-state products have achieved mass production and delivery across multiple segments, covering passenger vehicles, high-end electric motorcycles, industrial drones, and humanoid robots. Its high-power solid-state battery products for vehicles have passed extreme safety tests including high-altitude drops, multi-needle simultaneous penetration, and heavy-duty rolling, demonstrating comprehensive performance significantly superior to traditional liquid lithium batteries.
For industrial deployment, the company has its R&D headquarters in Beijing and has established production bases in Chongqing, Anhui, and Hubei, with a GWh-level intelligent production line in Qianjiang, Hubei set to commence operation within the year. The company has established a phased industrialization plan from 2026 to 2030, steadily advancing the scaling of semi-solid production and demonstration applications for all-solid-state, while simultaneously collaborating with upstream and downstream partners to improve the solid-state supporting industry chain. Tailan's long-term goal is to become a facilitator of solid-state battery普及.
Dr. Zhao Shengyu, Chairman of Hymson Laser, shared insights on "Breaking Through Internal Competition: The 'Extreme Intelligence' Evolution and Global Breakout of China's Lithium Battery Equipment." He noted that 2026 marks the lithium battery industry's entry into a period of structural differentiation, with explosive growth in orders for large-scale energy storage, slowing growth in power batteries, and simultaneous advancement along three technological paths: 500+Ah large-capacity cells, 46-series large cylindrical cells, and solid-state/semi-solid-state batteries. The competitive logic in the equipment industry is shifting; the core competition is no longer just about delivery speed but about process adaptability and lifecycle cost reduction capabilities.
Technologically, equipment companies need to transition from being mere device manufacturers to becoming process leaders, avoiding the risk of equipment becoming asset bubbles due to technological iterations. Hymson Laser promotes the standardization of non-standard equipment, integrating laser and automation technologies to adapt to new materials like high-nickel cathodes, silicon-carbon anodes, and solid-state electrolytes. This enables zero-defect, high-efficiency processes in electrode slitting and assembly, with batch deployment of standardized production lines for 587Ah large-capacity cells.
Overseas markets are entering a critical reshuffling period. Industry expansion abroad is upgrading from simple product export to transnational operations. Customer demand is shifting from purchasing equipment to seeking complete factory solutions, compliance support, and long-term operation and maintenance services. Hymson Laser has established localized R&D, after-sales, and spare parts warehousing networks in Europe. Stringent overseas regulations like CE and UL now serve as moats for leading equipment companies, with turnkey solutions addressing pain points in overseas supply chains and personnel training.
In terms of industrial synergy, the industry is entering a phase of restructuring interests across the entire value chain, with intelligence and green manufacturing as two core directions. The company integrates AI and digital twins into its equipment, enabling adaptive adjustments and autonomous warnings, while also improving laser energy efficiency to reduce production line energy consumption, helping battery manufacturers complete carbon footprint certification.
Dr. Zhao stated that the industry should abandon vicious low-price competition, and companies need to deepen their technological expertise and pursue lean management. During periods of cyclical adjustment, it is even more crucial to consolidate core competencies. By relying on three major transformations—process innovation, global-localized delivery, and intelligent green manufacturing—the lithium battery equipment industry can solidify its foundation and support the global advancement of China's lithium battery intelligent manufacturing.
The session concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Zhang Xiaofei, featuring Xu Junhai, Dr. Gao Xiang, and Dr. Zhao Shengyu. The dialogue centered on two main themes: the industrialization path for solid-state batteries and AI-driven battery production line operation and maintenance. They engaged in a lively exchange covering topics such as solid-state battery technological bottlenecks, progress in mass production equipment, the performance and market positioning of semi-solid batteries, and the evolving landscape of industry technology development.
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