Policy and Technological Breakthroughs: Dual Engines Driving China's Lithium Battery Industry in 2026

At the start of 2026, China's lithium battery industry is witnessing a dual resonance of policy guidance and technological innovation, stepping into a new phase of high-quality development. On January 7th, four ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Energy Administration jointly held a forum on the power and energy storage battery industry. The forum pinpointed irrational phenomena such as blind expansion and low-price competition in the industry, and deployed measures to regulate market order, strictly control redundant construction, and strengthen quality supervision, promoting the industry to shift from price involution to value competition and laying a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the industry.

Concurrent good news came from the technological front. The research team of the Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) pioneered a green, efficient and new lithium-specific extraction system, breaking through the technical bottleneck in separating alkaline lithium resources. This technology has increased the lithium recovery rate by more than 15% from the industry average, stably maintaining it above 98%, and significantly reduced the production cost of lithium carbonate per ton. The supporting 10,000-ton industrial demonstration line has been operating stably for over a year, with a cumulative additional output value exceeding 600 million yuan. Meanwhile, the R&D of all-solid-state lithium batteries is accelerating. Multiple technical routes such as sulfide and oxide are advancing in parallel. FAW Hongqi has successfully rolled off the assembly line of a prototype vehicle equipped with an all-solid-state battery pack, the cost of relevant core materials is continuously optimized, and commercialization is on the horizon.

Industry insiders predict that policy regulation and technological cost reduction will accelerate industry reshuffling. Coupled with the dividend of a 50% year-on-year growth in global energy storage battery demand in 2026, enterprises with core technologies and compliant production capacity will continue to benefit. This dual positive resonance will not only resolve the pain points in the industry's development but also drive the transformation of the lithium battery industry chain towards greenization, high efficiency, and high-endization, consolidating China's competitive advantage in the global lithium battery sector.

Note: All data and policy information in this article are sourced from the official website of MIIT, announcements of the Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, CAS, and industry research reports, ensuring the content is true and traceable.