Experts from many countries talked about the future development of the lithium battery industry in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, the "Lithium Capital"

China News Service, Xinyu, October 9th (Wang Jian) ​​From October 7th to 9th, the Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026) "Tiangong Kaiwu Links the World" - Xinyu Industry High-Quality Development Dialogue was held in Xinyu, Jiangxi. More than 120 guests, including 13 well-known international strategic academics from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, explored the cultural inheritance and mutual learning of "Tiangong Kaiwu" and talked about the future development of the lithium industry.

On October 8, the opening ceremony of the Mingde Strategic Dialogue (2026) "Tiangong Kaiwu Links the World—Xinyu Industry High-Quality Development Dialogue" was held. Photo by Wang Jian

Xinyu was established as a city because of steel and prospered because of industry. After 60 years of intensive development, Xinyu's annual lithium salt production capacity currently exceeds 300,000 tons, lithium hydroxide exports account for more than 50% of the international market share, and the annual lithium battery production capacity exceeds 45GWh. It gathers 79 lithium battery upstream and downstream companies such as Ganfeng, China Mining, Huiyi, and Zhili, and has basically opened up the entire industrial chain of "lithium ore mining, lithium salt preparation, battery manufacturing, and echelon recycling."

From January to August 2026, Xinyu's lithium salt output was 159,000 tons, an increase of 6.2%, and lithium battery output was 31.4GWh, an increase of 49.7%; the lithium battery new energy industry achieved revenue of 37.31 billion yuan, an increase of 90.2%, and total profits of 5.08 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4 times. The annual industry scale is expected to exceed 55 billion yuan.

"In 2026, the scale of the domestic lithium battery industry will continue to expand, and the production capacity and output of power batteries and energy storage batteries will rank first in the world." Zhu Longxiang, vice chairman of the China Battery Industry Association, said in Xinyu on the 8th that currently, lithium battery applications are accelerating their expansion into various fields of the national economy. In the field of new energy vehicles, power batteries continue to be iteratively upgraded to support the acceleration of transportation electrification; in the construction of new power systems, energy storage batteries have become an important carrier to promote wind and solar absorption and serve grid peak regulation; in scenarios such as industrial equipment, consumer electronics, and special applications, the application boundaries of lithium battery products continue to extend, providing strong support for the green transformation of various industries.

Ryan Perkins, founder of the "Global Economic Indicators" analysis platform and an expert on international relations, said after visiting technology companies in Xinyu that China can help many countries in the Global South electrify. China is providing the world with the resources it needs to transition to more sustainable energy, helping countries that have not yet completed their energy grids to build them, thereby reducing their dependence on increasingly unstable global energy markets.

The picture shows the automated production line of Ganfeng Lithium Industry. Photo courtesy of Ganfeng Lithium Industry

Liu Fangyang, a professor at the School of Metallurgy and Environment at Central South University, said in an interview with China News Service on the 8th that from the perspective of industrial competition, all-solid-state batteries are currently the focus of competition for layout. After technical comparison and industrial screening in recent years, the sulfide route has the best performance in terms of ionic conductivity and suitability for mass production processes. Ganfeng Lithium Industry announced that it has achieved large-scale mass production of lithium sulfide and has become one of the few companies in the industry to open up the entire chain. This means that in the new round of industrial competition, Xinyu has blocked the most critical link in the solid-state battery industry chain.

On October 8, China Economic Information Service released the Green Impact Index of the World Lithium Battery Industry in Xinyu. The index results show that cities such as Antofagasta, Changzhou, Ningde, Perth, Shenzhen, Xinyu, Yibin, and Yichun (ranked in no particular order) are among the first in the green development of the global lithium battery industry. They all demonstrate the development characteristics of full-chain collaboration and outstanding performance in specific links.