According to statistics from Gaogong Industry Research Institute (GGII), from January to August 2025, Chinese lithium battery industry chain enterprises signed and commenced 183 new expansion projects, with a total planned investment of 400 billion yuan. The lithium battery industry chain is accelerating toward high-quality development amid structural adjustments, showing distinctive characteristics of "accelerated high-end capacity expansion and low-end capacity clearance."
Breaking down by segment, lithium battery and solid-state battery expansion projects numbered 54 and 23 respectively, accounting for 30% and 13% of total planned expansion projects. Among these, relatively mature products like lithium batteries and anode materials have a higher proportion of commenced projects compared to newly signed projects, indicating companies are more focused on accelerating capacity construction. Emerging projects such as solid-state batteries and sodium batteries have a higher proportion of new signings, reflecting strategic positioning and first-mover advantage strategies to prepare for future incremental markets.
From the perspective of investment entities, traditional segments of the industry chain including lithium batteries, cathode materials (lithium iron phosphate/ternary), anodes (artificial graphite), and separators continue to be dominated by leading enterprises such as CATL, BYD, and Enjie. Cross-sector enterprises have significantly contracted, with companies focusing more on industry chain collaboration and deepening their core businesses.
Emerging tracks such as solid-state batteries, sodium batteries, and silicon-based anodes are attracting cross-sector capital and startups. For example, Dongchi New Energy is planning to build a sodium battery project with a total investment of 5.2 billion yuan in Suining; solid-state battery startups including Doctests, Juyuan Power, and Yuandian New Energy have successively signed solid-state battery industrialization projects with total investments of several billion yuan.
In terms of investment amounts, from January to August 2025, the total planned investment of Chinese lithium battery industry chain enterprises reached 400 billion yuan, with:
The lithium battery segment accounting for over 40% of investment, with project expansion mainly led by top battery companies. Leading battery companies continue to accelerate capacity expansion to meet rapidly growing market demand.
The solid-state battery field has a planned investment of 35 billion yuan, becoming a new growth pole, mainly driven by technological iteration and accelerated mass production. Solid-state batteries have become the hottest investment track in the lithium battery industry.
Lithium iron phosphate cathode materials and upstream sectors have a total planned investment exceeding 80 billion yuan, mainly driven by three hundred-billion-level projects: ① Guizhou Phosphate Chemical jointly with CNNC Titanium White and China Mineral Resources investing 33.1 billion yuan in Guizhou Kaiyang to build 600,000 tons of iron phosphate and lithium iron phosphate projects (including other chemical products); ② Tsingshan Group, Huayou Holdings and others investing 24.3 billion yuan in Guizhou Bijie to deploy 500,000 tons of iron phosphate and lithium iron phosphate capacity; ③ Yuntu Holdings investing 15.9 billion yuan in Guangxi Guigang to build a 300,000-ton iron phosphate and lithium iron phosphate integrated base (including other chemical products).
Anode materials have a planned investment of 28.6 billion yuan, showing dual main lines of "technology upgrade + overseas expansion": ① Silicon-carbon anodes have become expansion hotspots, with Zhongning Silicon Industry, Carbon One New Energy and others accelerating deployment of new silicon-carbon anode materials; ② Overseas factory construction is accelerating, such as Zhongke Electric planning to invest 8 billion yuan to build a 200,000-ton anode material integrated base in Oman, while Putailai, Betery and others have already deployed capacity in Indonesia and Sweden.
Ternary cathodes, lithium battery equipment and other segments have relatively contracted investment scales due to relatively saturated capacity and smaller market increments in recent two years.
From a regional perspective, domestic lithium battery industry chain expansion projects are mainly concentrated in East China and Central China.
East China: Centered on the Yangtze River Delta (Jiangsu, Zhejiang) and Shandong, leveraging chemical resource and industry chain supporting advantages, focusing on materials and battery manufacturing segments. For example, Gotion High-tech plans to build 20GWh new energy battery capacity in Nanjing, Jiangsu and Wuhu, Anhui respectively.
Central China: With Hubei and Hunan as growth poles, building "resource + manufacturing" integrated bases. For instance, Jingmen, Hubei, relying on companies like EVE Energy and Capchem, has formed a complete industry chain covering cathodes, separators, and electrolytes, with output value exceeding 60 billion yuan in 2024.
In overseas markets, projects in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Hungary are numerous. Malaysia has advantages of low geopolitical risk, friendly preferential foreign investment policies, and transportation hub status. In the first half of the year, it attracted multiple battery manufacturers including EVE Energy, Zhuhai CosMX, and Hisense Battery to establish operations.
In Europe, driven by huge electrification demand space and policy localization pressures, Chinese battery and material companies are establishing headquarters and manufacturing facilities. For example, BYD's European headquarters and R&D center project landed in Hungary, initially focusing on in-depth research of intelligent assisted driving technology and next-generation automotive electrification technology, and will collaborate with local universities, suppliers, and enterprises to jointly promote new energy vehicle industry chain upgrades.