China unveils measures to bolster new-type energy storage manufacturing

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities unveiled several measures on Monday to promote the new-type energy storage manufacturing sector, as part of efforts to accelerate the development of emerging industries and the country’s modern industrial system.

According to an action plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other government organs, the new-type energy storage manufacturing industry refers to the sector that produces energy storage, information processing, safety control, and other products related to new energy storage methods.

By 2027, the sector is expected to demonstrate international competitive advantages across the entire manufacturing chain, with a greater number of leading enterprises, marked improvements in industrial innovation capabilities, and overall competitiveness while also achieving advancements in high-end, intelligent, and green development, according to the plan.

According to the document, China will launch initiatives to boost technology innovation in the new-type energy storage sector. These initiatives will include measures to speed up the upgrading of mature technologies such as lithium batteries and support disruptive technological innovations.

The country will also promote coordinated industrial development. Efforts should be made to strengthen the monitoring and early warning of lithium battery production capacity, prevent reckless investment, and guard against the risk of disorderly development.

The document underlined the importance of supporting upstream and downstream enterprises in the new-type energy storage manufacturing sector to optimize their energy consumption structure, improve energy utilization efficiency, and expand the proportion of renewable energy in the manufacturing process.

Efforts will be made to promote the application of new-generation information technologies such as blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence, and 5G in the new-type energy storage manufacturing sector, according to the document.

To beef up international cooperation in the new-type energy storage sector, China will work to incorporate collaboration in the field into international cooperation mechanisms and frameworks such as the Belt and Road Initiative and BRICS and promote mutually beneficial cooperation on industrial and supply chains.