China's wealthiest individual has quietly entered the solid-state battery arena. In late May, corporate registry data showed that Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, has strategically invested in Zhineng Lithium Battery Technology, a solid-state electrolyte company established just over a year ago, through his holding company Yangshengtang.
This indirect investment, made via a fund, positions the billionaire at the very upstream of the new energy materials industry and highlights the strong allure of the solid-state battery sector. Currently, solid-state batteries are listed by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a key research and development direction. Multiple institutions predict global demand could approach 500 GWh by 2030, although the timeline for mass production of all-solid-state batteries remains a point of debate within the industry.
Zhong's investment continues his consistent, low-risk strategy of supplying essential tools or materials to emerging industries.
The investment was made through a capital injection into a fund. It is reported that Zhineng Lithium completed its Series A financing in early May. The lead investor was the Kunshan Gewuzhizhi Phase I Venture Capital Fund, which holds approximately a 10% stake. Tracing the ownership reveals that the core contributor to this fund is Yangshengtang Co., Ltd., with a commitment of around 500 million yuan. Yangshengtang is ultimately controlled by Zhong Shanshan.
Founded in March 2024 and headquartered in Quzhou, Zhejiang, Zhineng Lithium is a supplier focused on core materials for solid-state batteries. As the industrialization of solid-state batteries is still in its early stages, Zhineng Lithium's technical team is pursuing a multi-path strategy, concurrently developing oxide, polymer, and sulfide-based technical routes. Public information indicates its technical lead, Xu Xiaoxiong, previously served as a core technical personnel at Ganfeng Lithium and has nearly two decades of experience in lithium battery materials. In April, the company disclosed a patent for a high-performance PVDF-based solid-state electrolyte.
Other participants in this round of financing included Quzhou Zhina (with state-owned background) and Xianfeng Changqing. The Quzhou state-owned capital holds about a 15% stake in Zhineng Lithium, making it the second-largest shareholder after the founding team.
The solid-state battery sub-sector, due to its generational technological differences from liquid lithium-ion batteries, theoretically offers breakthrough potential in energy density, safety, and cycle life. It holds significant promise, especially for applications with stringent safety and range requirements like high-end electric vehicles and low-altitude aircraft. However, Zhineng Lithium acknowledges that the key solid-state electrolyte technology faces challenges in transitioning from "laboratory achievements" to "industrialized products."
Zhong Shanshan's move is not a reckless gamble on the future; he is acting with a degree of confidence. In March, local government media in Quzhou reported that Zhineng Lithium's project for an annual production capacity of 11,000 tons of solid-state battery electrolyte is nearing operation and will supply key materials to automakers like Geely and BYD.
This is not Zhong's first cross-sector investment. His Yangshengtang capital has previously invested in Jinbo Bio, a company in the recombinant collagen field, and Rongda Photosensitive, active in electronic chemicals and photoresists. It has also invested in upstream agricultural material bases like ancient tea trees in Yunnan and forest fruits in Xinjiang.
These investments share a common characteristic: avoiding the fiercely competitive downstream consumer markets and instead securing positions in the upstream segments of the industrial chain that possess technological barriers or resource scarcity. Zhong's investment in solid-state battery materials continues this "selling shovels" approach. Within the solid-state battery supply chain, the cell manufacturing segment is already crowded with giants like CATL and BYD, where competition is intense. In contrast, the solid-state electrolyte, as a core component of the cell, has not yet seen its technological path fully solidified, representing a high-value-added, high-barrier upstream segment.
By taking a minority stake through an investment fund, Yangshengtang maintains strategic flexibility while avoiding excessive strain on its core business's cash flow. Partnering with Quzhou's state-owned capital also helps reduce local coordination costs during the industrialization process.
Wealthy individuals making cross-sector investments in new energy is not uncommon in recent years. For instance, Lei Jun, through Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi Group, and the Yangtze River Xiaomi Industry Fund, has invested in companies like Svolt Energy Technology, Weilan New Energy, and Kuaibu New Energy, covering the entire industrial chain from power batteries to semi-solid/solid-state batteries and energy storage. Among these, Weilan New Energy is a representative domestic company in the mass production of semi-solid-state batteries.
Zhineng Lithium believes that when solid-state electrolytes achieve true large-scale commercial application, they will not only reshape the range and safety landscape of new energy vehicles but also bring disruptive changes to fields like energy storage, consumer electronics, and aerospace.
With a fortune exceeding 500 billion yuan, investing one-thousandth of his wealth in a potential star player within a super-growth sector is a calculated risk worth taking for Zhong Shanshan.