China Moves to Cool Battery Boom Amid Overcapacity Concerns

  • Firms should avoid projects that simply expand capacity: MIIT
  • Nation’s exports of batteries, EVs have fueled trade friction
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China unveiled draft rules that appear aimed at slowing the breakneck expansion of its battery industry — a key target of US and European complaints about Chinese overcapacity.

Firms in the lithium-ion battery sector should avoid building plants that “simply expand production capacity,” the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a proposal issued on Wednesday. The document also suggests minimum standards for energy density and a range of other battery specifications.