China is pushing forward with the development of standards for power batteries, according to a senior official.

At the World Power Battery Conference 2026 held on September 3, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiong Jijun stated that while the global automotive industry transformation continues to accelerate, China's power battery sector is at a critical stage focused on enhancing quality and efficiency while consolidating its advantages.

The Ministry will strengthen technological innovation, establish clearer standards, regulate market order, expand application scenarios, and deepen international collaboration. These steps aim to drive the industry toward a more high-end, intelligent, green, and globally integrated future.

Xiong emphasized that the Ministry will accelerate the creation of standards concerning battery safety performance, cycle life, carbon footprint, and recycling. Additionally, efforts will be made to align standards with international norms and strengthen compliance inspections. He noted that these upgraded standards are intended to elevate quality levels and competitiveness.

China's power battery industry holds a globally leading position in scale. Xiong highlighted that as a core component of intelligent connected vehicles, power batteries serve as a key pillar for the industry's green transformation and the achievement of dual-carbon goals. The industry also acts as an essential engine for cultivating new quality productive forces and strengthening industrial competitiveness.

Data from 2025 showed that China's power battery installations reached 769.7 GWh, representing more than a tenfold increase compared to 2020. This growth has further solidified the nation’s scale advantages. Significant progress has also been achieved in improving the energy density of lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries, while sodium-ion batteries and mixed solid-liquid batteries have now entered the industrialization stage.

China has built a comprehensive and efficient industrial system covering everything from basic materials and cell manufacturing to system integration, complete equipment, and recycling. Applications are now expanding into ships, aircraft, and intelligent robots.

Experts suggest that China's power battery industry is transitioning from a phase of large-scale development into a deeper stage of high-quality growth. Application scenarios are rapidly extending from automotive power toward emerging fields such as the low-altitude economy and embodied intelligence, opening up entirely new growth opportunities for the sector.

Xiong also acknowledged ongoing challenges. He pointed out that while some achievements have been made, the performance of current products still needs improvement, breakthroughs in next-generation battery technologies and materials remain to be achieved, and irrational competition within the industry is becoming increasingly apparent.

To address these challenges, the Ministry will strengthen technological innovation by supporting cooperation between upstream and downstream sectors to achieve breakthroughs in all-solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and lithium-metal batteries. The research and application of new material systems and new process structures will also be accelerated to improve battery energy density, safety, and durability.

Regarding market regulation, efforts will focus on regulating competition order through better industry monitoring and dynamic production capacity warnings. Quality improvement initiatives will be implemented, and supervision of product consistency and quality will be tightened to maintain safety bottom lines. The Ministry will also work to curb low-price competition and blind production expansion, promoting a healthy and orderly market environment.

In terms of applications, the Ministry will actively promote the large-scale adoption of new-energy heavy-duty trucks and explore pilot zero-emission freight zones. The development of battery swap models and vehicle-to-grid interactions will also be encouraged, along with expanding power battery applications in energy storage, transportation, and embodied intelligence.

International cooperation will be deepened through active participation in global standards and regulatory development for power batteries. This includes enhancing collaboration in areas such as carbon footprint tracking and battery passports. Coordinated efforts will also be made to secure upstream resources and downstream recycling, fostering ecosystem synergy and creating more stable global industry and supply chains.

Liu Min, Chief Engineer of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that standards represent influence in the industry. He noted that the administration will focus on cutting-edge areas such as solid-state battery industrialization and carbon footprint certification, working to build a standards system covering the entire product life cycle.

According to Liu, carbon footprint management is becoming a "green passport" for power batteries entering international markets. Green and low-carbon credentials have transformed from being an advantage into a mandatory requirement. He stressed that with the increasingly complex international trade environment, standards development, infrastructure improvement, and governance system construction are all critical variables that will determine the future direction of the industry.