Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and its executives have been fined a total of 9.5 million yuan.

A company with a market capitalization of only 23 billion yuan and first-half 2025 revenue of 6.2 billion yuan – how could it secure a strategic agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited potentially valued at over 120 billion yuan? Recent investigation results from the China Securities Regulatory Commission provide the answer: Ronbay's announcement regarding a major contract with CATL contained misleading statements. The company faces a warning and a 4.5 million yuan fine. Chairman Bai Houshan and Board Secretary Yu Jiyun are slated for fines of 3 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively, bringing the total penalties for the company and executives to 9.5 million yuan. This amount ranks among the higher levels for A-share disclosure violations in recent years.

Due to the company's violations, investors are now eligible to seek compensation. Financial lawyer Liu Ting from Beijing Yongqin Law Firm stated that according to the Securities Law and relevant judicial interpretations, investors meeting the following criteria can claim damages: those who purchased the company's shares between the announcement date of January 14, 2026, and the case filing announcement date of January 18, and sold or continued holding the shares after January 18.

Despite the penalty being finalized, Ronbay's stock price surprisingly rose by 7.15% on February 9, closing at 32.22 yuan per share, with a total market capitalization of 23 billion yuan.

**Four Major Misleading Statements**

On the evening of February 6, Ronbay announced it had received an "Advance Notice of Administrative Penalty" from the Ningbo Bureau of the CSRC. Due to misleading statements in the major contract announcement released a month prior, the company and its executives were fined a combined 9.5 million yuan.

The regulator clearly identified four major misleading statements in Ronbay's announcement, each directly addressing core requirements for information disclosure.

Specifically, first, the "Cooperation Agreement" did not stipulate a total sales amount. Furthermore, in a January 19 announcement responding to an inquiry from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Ronbay stated: "The total contract amount of 120 billion yuan was estimated by the company" and "the sales amount is uncertain."

Second, the agreed purchase volume by the buyer in the "Cooperation Agreement" was no less than 70% of the forecasted 3.05 million tons, with final amounts subject to subsequent framework, annual, or individual purchase contracts between the parties.

Third, Ronbay's announcement disclosed supplying the buyer from the first quarter of 2026 to 2031, but the "Cooperation Agreement" is valid only until December 31, 2030.

Fourth, the "Cooperation Agreement" made the buyer's performance conditional upon Ronbay meeting comprehensive competitiveness requirements (specifically referring to simultaneously meeting policy requirements, commercial terms, product quality, material performance indicators, delivery timelines, and quantities), but this precondition was not disclosed in the announcement.

The "120 billion yuan order" incident unfolded from announcement to penalty in just three weeks. During this period, the company's stock was suspended for three trading days. Although the stock price rose on the day the penalty was announced, compared to its price before the CATL agreement announcement, Ronbay's stock had fallen by 13.73% overall.

**The "Self-Estimated" 120 Billion Yuan Capacity**

On the evening of January 13, Ronbay announced the signing of a "Lithium Iron Phosphate Cathode Material Procurement Cooperation Agreement" with CATL. The agreement stipulated that from Q1 2026 to 2031, Ronbay would supply approximately 3.05 million tons of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials to CATL, with total sales exceeding 120 billion yuan.

That same night, the SSE swiftly issued an inquiry letter, directly questioning the lack of contractual basis for the "total sales exceeding 120 billion yuan" statement and demanding the company disclose the source of this figure. Ronbay was required to reply in writing within one trading day.

However, Ronbay's reply was delayed until January 19, the same day the case was filed.

Financial commentator Pi Haizhou noted that announcements of such massive orders极易引发股价异常波动，甚至连续涨停，若最终无法落实，将对投资者造成重大损失。The SSE's rapid issuance of an inquiry letter and trading suspension after the announcement were reasonable and necessary regulatory measures to protect investor interests. Before resuming trading, the exchange and the company must thoroughly investigate key issues such as the order's authenticity, specific content, and both parties' fulfillment capabilities, and provide a public explanation to the market.

The initial cooperation announcement indicated that Ronbay is an important supplier for CATL. Ronbay and its wholly-owned or joint ventures provide battery raw materials or services to CATL's factories, will prioritize participation in the customer's new projects and product development, and actively respond to cooperation requests regarding quality improvement and rapid delivery.

Ronbay stated that the fulfillment of the "Cooperation Agreement" is expected to have a positive and significant impact on future operating performance and further enhance operational stability and anti-cyclical capability. The specific impact on annual performance will be detailed in subsequent periodic reports.

**Ambitious Vision Meets Harsh Reality**

Ronbay is a leader in ternary cathode materials, primarily engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of ternary materials, lithium iron phosphate materials, lithium iron manganese phosphate materials, sodium battery materials, and multi-element precursors. Ternary cathode materials constitute its main business. In the first half of 2025, the company's revenue was 6.248 billion yuan, with ternary cathode material revenue accounting for 6.037 billion yuan, or 96.62%.

Regarding the lithium iron phosphate materials to be supplied to CATL, Ronbay's earlier announcements showed that on December 13, 2025, it disclosed the acquisition and capital increase of Guizhou Xinren New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. The announcement stated that Guizhou Xinren currently possesses an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate. Ronbay's disclosed built lithium iron phosphate capacity falls far short of the 3.05 million tons projected for supply under the "Cooperation Agreement."

Regulators first focused on the accuracy of the information disclosure. Based on the announcement and filed documents submitted by Ronbay, the agreement did not specify a total sales amount, and Ronbay failed to announce the basis for determining the sales figure.

Consequently, the SSE required Ronbay to disclose whether any agreements regarding capacity construction, annual delivery quantities, and product price adjustment mechanisms had been signed, and to comprehensively review and fully disclose all important contents of the "Cooperation Agreement."

Additionally, the SSE demanded Ronbay thoroughly review and disclose the internal decision-making procedures for signing and fulfilling the relevant agreement, verify the standardization and effectiveness of internal controls, assess whether the information disclosure was true, accurate, and complete, check for exaggerated statements or advertising language, and clearly state whether there was any motive to hype the stock price using the large contract.

Facing the inquiry, Ronbay applied twice for an extension to reply. In the second extension announcement, it revealed: the agreement did not stipulate a purchase amount; the "120 billion yuan total contract amount" was estimated by the company; the final actual sales scale depends on raw material prices and quantities at the time of actual order signing, meaning the sales amount is uncertain.

Pi Haizou believes that Ronbay's announcement using a self-estimated amount, without clarifying whether it was included in the formal agreement, easily causes serious market misunderstanding and may constitute an information disclosure violation. Major contract disclosures should be based on signed, legally effective documents. If it is merely an intention or framework agreement, its uncertainties should be clearly stated, rather than directly presenting a massive figure.

**The Mystery of the Mega-Order**

This news, which should have boosted market confidence, appeared particularly突兀 due to the vast disparity in size between the parties.

As the buyer, CATL is a global power battery giant with a market cap exceeding 1.6 trillion yuan. In contrast, supplier Ronbay had revenue of only 6.2 billion yuan in H1 2025 and expects a net profit loss of 150-190 million yuan attributable to shareholders for the full year 2025. A potentially valuable order equivalent to ten years of its own revenue seems like a case of "the tail wagging the dog" for any small or medium-sized enterprise.

Shen Miao, director of Chanson & Co., suggested that while such contracts might lack substantive meaning, they can significantly impact market sentiment. Therefore, this type of announcement resembles marketing aimed at the secondary market stock price rather than fulfilling disclosure obligations. He pointed out that major contracts are not subject to mandatory disclosure; the disclosure might have been intended to stimulate the stock price. Perhaps the cooperation is more conceptual, with significant room for adjustment later, so the effect appears more focused on influencing secondary market price fluctuations.

Many investors also found the order amount excessively unrealistic. One investor questioned, "Did the Board Secretary misplace the decimal point?" Another skeptic remarked, "With an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons, it would take 50 years to deliver. Who knows if CATL will even exist by then." Others commented, "Is this a joke? You can 'estimate' a 120 billion yuan contract? This isn't 1,200 yuan," and "I've been trading stocks for years, this is a first," or even, "Not even the scallops dared to run away that much!!!"

The timely intervention by regulators lifted the veil on this mega-order.

Pi Haizou analyzed that Ronbay's annual revenue is only over ten billion yuan, while the order amount reaches 120 billion yuan, equivalent to ten years of its revenue, far exceeding its actual operational and承接能力, making it difficult to believe. As an industry leader, why would CATL place such a huge order with a relatively small company lacks a reasonable explanation. Unless Ronbay possesses irreplaceable patents or technology, such cooperation does not conform to normal commercial logic. Ronbay's subsequent statement that the amount was "self-estimated" and that the agreement might merely be a framework document without specific monetary constraints further weakens the announcement's credibility.

"As the other party to the agreement, CATL has a responsibility to make a public statement on this matter to verify the cooperation's authenticity," Pi Haizou stated. "If the announcement contains false statements or major omissions, regulatory authorities should deal with it seriously to maintain market order."

When asked about the authenticity of the "Cooperation Agreement," CATL responded, "It's better to ask Ronbay."

**Challenges for the Former Capital Darling**

For Ronbay, this penalty comes at a critical juncture in its development, facing dual challenges of business transformation and market trust.

Ronbay's founder, Bai Houshan, is a legendary figure in China's lithium battery material industry. His career is also full of dramatic turns.

In 1992, the 28-year-old Bai formed a research group on electronic ceramic additives at the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, which later became the predecessor of Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co., Ltd. In 2010, he successfully led Easpring's listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's ChiNext board, making it the first listed company in the lithium battery cathode material industry. However, three years later, due to performance fluctuations, Bai was "asked to leave" the company he founded. This experience would be a heavy blow to any entrepreneur, but Bai did not succumb.

In 2014, at age 50, he chose to start again, establishing Ronbay Technology. Unlike his first venture, this time he bet entirely on high-nickel ternary cathode materials, a technological path not yet fully proven at the time. Ronbay's second startup story quickly attracted attention from the capital market. The company's growth trajectory became a textbook case.

In 2017, Ronbay became the first domestic cathode material company to achieve mass production of high-nickel products. Two years later, on July 22, 2019, the company successfully listed on the SSE STAR Market, becoming one of the first 25 companies on the new board.

Post-IPO, Ronbay performed impressively, with its market capitalization once exceeding 70 billion yuan. Bai Houshan also reached the peak of his wealth, ranking 1230th on the 2022 Hurun Global Rich List with a fortune of 18 billion yuan, a jump of 1153 places from the previous year.

The capital enthusiasm stemmed from optimism about the high-nickel route. As requirements for new energy vehicle range increased, higher energy density high-nickel ternary batteries were seen as a key solution. Leveraging its technological lead, Ronbay quickly became a leader in this niche. However, market changes are often unpredictable. The strong comeback of lithium iron phosphate batteries placed Ronbay, focused on high-nickel ternary, in a strategic dilemma.

By 2024, shipments of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials accounted for nearly 74% of total cathode material shipments, while ternary materials held only about 19%. In the first half of 2025, the market share of lithium iron phosphate materials in China's power battery installations further reached 81%. Facing this market shift, Ronbay had to adjust its strategy. The company began布局 lithium iron manganese phosphate, sodium-ion batteries, and other new products, and developed 8-series and 9-series cathodes compatible with sulfide all-solid-state batteries.

But these transformations require significant investment. Ronbay admitted in its 2025 interim report that investments in new industries like sodium-ion batteries, precursors, and LMFP were important factors affecting current profitability. The pains of transition are already reflected in financials, with the company beginning to report losses in 2025.

In three weeks, from announcement to penalty, Ronbay's "120 billion yuan order" episode has temporarily concluded with a 9.5 million yuan fine. The new energy industry is never short of inspiring stories, but when stories detach from reality, the regulatory net quietly tightens.

Ronbay faces not just a financial penalty, but a crack in market trust. For Bai Houshan, who once led the company's second startup, repairing this trust may be more challenging than filling the capacity gap. On this trillion-yuan track, the real rules of the game are subtly changing: from who can tell the most compelling story, to who can provide the most reliable value.