The Global Takeover of Chinese Battery Technology
Last June, the symbolism of the moment was impossible to miss. Standing surrounded by factory workers in Douai, a northern French city whose coal-mining heritage stretches back to the 1700s, Emmanuel Macron held a streamlined modern lithium battery in his right hand and a traditional mining lamp in his left. This former industrial hub is now home to a new battery gigafactory, a project that will enable France to manufacture every component of electric vehicles within its own borders. For Macron, this facility marked nothing less than an “economic and ecological revolution.”
The French president was quick to clarify that France did not deliver this milestone alone. Gesturing to the man beside him, he told the crowd: “We brought in investors from the other side of the world. They transferred their technologies. They helped train our people.”
That man was Zhang Lei, founder of Envision, a leading Chinese clean energy firm that produces wind turbines and lithium batteries. Envision’s battery division is investing up to €2 billion in the Douai plant, and more critically, it contributed the specialized expertise needed for high-efficiency mass production. After the speech, Zhang and Macron picked up markers and signed their names on the first completed battery rolled out at the site. “Thank you, Chairman, because you trusted us and because you did exactly what you said you would do,” Macron said, looking directly at Zhang.
In 2026, geeking out over batteries at social gatherings is completely acceptable. Lithium batteries have turned intermittent solar and wind power into reliable 24/7 energy sources. Battery-powered electric vehicles have upended the multi-trillion-dollar global auto industry and made Elon Musk the richest person on the planet. The breakthroughs behind lithium batteries even earned a Nobel Prize, and the U.S. government now classifies lithium as a “critical mineral” vital to national and economic security.
Lithium’s explosive boom has lifted one group of players far more than any other: China’s roster of major battery manufacturers. After decades of steady, low-profile growth, firms including CATL, BYD, Gotion High-Tech, and Envision are now the primary suppliers for the world’s electric vehicles and grid energy storage. Data from the International Energy Agency shows that more than 80% of the world’s battery cells were produced in China in 2024. Today, these companies are expanding aggressively beyond China’s borders. Over the past decade, they have built or announced plans for at least 68 factories outside mainland China, according to data compiled by WIRED and the Rhodium Group, a New York-based think tank.
Per Rhodium Group analysis, these overseas projects represent a combined investment of more than $45 billion in global markets. They also reflect a major shift in what manufacturing dominance looks like in the 21st century. “Made in China” used to be—and often still is—tied to cheap labor, knockoff goods, and low-cost consumer gadgets. Today, it also stands for cutting-edge, industry-leading technology assembled anywhere in the world.
“We believe it’s a new phase. We have never really seen that in Chinese overseas investments,” says Armand Meyer, a senior research analyst at the Rhodium Group. His calculations show 2024 was the first year Chinese EV and battery companies spent more capital building factories outside China than within. “They are ready to compete beyond the domestic market, and they are as competitive as traditional Western players, or even more competitive,” Meyer says. “We think it’s just the beginning.”
Today, some of the world’s leading battery research comes from Chinese universities and companies, says Brian Engle, chairman of NAATBatt International, a U.S. trade association for the battery industry. That advantage comes from China’s early, long-term bet on the sector. When Engle toured a lab at a top Chinese engineering university in 2019, he saw more than 60 graduate students building and testing battery cells full-time. Surprised by the scale, he turned to an American academic on the tour and asked how many U.S. universities would need to combine their battery programs to match that number of focused postgraduate researchers. “And she said we couldn’t,” he recalled. “We simply couldn’t.”
It should come as no surprise that Chinese battery companies dominate the global market—and that domestic competition within China is cutthroat. Today, local tax incentives, lower shipping costs, and less saturated demand mean opening a factory overseas can be more profitable than expanding at home. CATL, the world’s largest lithium battery maker, recently reported in a financial filing that its profit margin for overseas operations is 29%, compared to just under 23% for its domestic Chinese business. Other Chinese firms, including Gotion and EVE Energy, have also reported higher profit margins for their international projects.
Macron is far from the only politician to welcome a Chinese battery plant to their region. This warm reception is nearly global: Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rode in a BYD electric vehicle alongside the company’s founder. Spain’s prime minister has appeared publicly with CATL’s CEO. In the U.S., Illinois Governor JB Pritzker shared a stage with Gotion’s chairman to announce a new factory in Manteno, Illinois.
But challenges emerge as blueprints turn into full-scale production facilities. Factory projects typically come with promises to hire local workers, but some firms have drawn criticism for relying on imported migrant labor instead. In Hungary, local media reported in July that CATL laid off more than 100 workers at its local factory, most of them Hungarian citizens, prompting municipal officials to launch an investigation and raid the plant. CATL also faces protests and a lawsuit in Hungary over its water use and environmental impact—issues common to large battery factories worldwide, regardless of ownership.
The situation may feel oddly familiar. When Apple built its tech empire relying on Chinese manufacturing, the world debated whether China was benefiting from Apple’s success or being exploited by it. Now, as Chinese battery technology comes to dominate global markets, these same questions are being asked of Chinese companies: who ultimately benefits from this expansion, and who is exploiting whom?
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