Ningxiang High-tech Zone has formed an industrial chain including positive electrode materials, negative electrode materials, membranes, electrolytes, terminal applications and battery recycling, which has exceeded 10 billion yuan of output value.
 
Drawing on the talent and resources of Hunan’s universities, Ningxiang Hi-tech Zone has been developing its advanced energy storage materials and battery industries since 2007, having attracted Brunp Recycling, BYD, Shanshan Energy, Hunan Shinzoom Technology Co Ltd and many other related high quality enterprises.  
“BYD's blade battery project is steadily pushing forward,” said Liu Ying, deputy director of the administrative committee of Ningxiang High-tech Zone. “We plan to achieve 30 billion yuan of output value by the end of the 14th Five-year Plan (2021-2025). With the implementation of major projects by BYD and other enterprises, this goal is expected to be finished ahead of schedule.”
 
At present, the total scale of Hunan province's new materials sector ranks first in the country. In 2019, the output value of Hunan's advanced power storage material enterprises hit 45 billion yuan. Thanks to its "build-up" effect, rich talent resources and strong R&D capacity, Hunan has formed a power battery industry base with leading advantages in Central China.
 
Centralized in Xiangjiang New Area, Changsha, capital of Hunan province, is becoming a national magnet for the lithium battery industrial chain. Ningxiang High-tech Zone, as the main area of developing new energy and new material industry in Xiangjiang New Area, has formed an integral industrial chain with output value exceeding 10 billion yuan.
 
Having two national enterprise technology centers, three academician workstations and several provincial level enterprise technology centers, Ningxiang High-tech Zone is one of the few areas with integral lithium battery industrial chains in China.
 
According to Liu, Ningxiang High-tech Zone's new energy battery industry will be developed into an industrial cluster by prioritizing the development of upstream materials and battery manufacturing. “The clustered upstream materials and power battery industries will bring advantages in costs and supply chains that then attract new energy automobile projects,” Liu said.
 
To support the development of the advanced energy storage material industrial chain, Changsha issued a three-year action plan (2020-2022) to invest 100 million yuan annually to support key enterprises, industrial technology innovation, and the construction of public service platforms, as well as to introduce major projects to Ningxiang High-tech Zone.
 
Ningxiang High-tech Zone uses industry-led equity investment funding to boost the structural adjustment and upgrading of its energy storage material industry. To assist enterprises' financing effectively, Ningxiang High-tech Zone also serves as bridge between enterprises and financial institutions. In 2020, Ningxiang High-tech Zone introduced six projects related to the energy storage material industry, attracting investment of 3 billion yuan. At the opening ceremony of the 2020 Advanced Batteries for xEV/ESS Conference (ABEC 2020), nine projects by Hunan Shinzoom Technology Co Ltd and Weilan New Energy were signed to settle in Ningxiang High-tech Zone with an investment of 2.87 billion yuan. This is expected to power the growth of the advanced manufacturing industry in Changsha.
 
“Ningxiang High-tech Zone has prominent advantages in the battery material field. In the future, we will attract a number of cell manufacturing projects and accelerate leading enterprises to settle down,” Liu said, adding that in the future, Ningxiang High-tech Zone will seize the opportunities of the country speeding up the electrification of automobiles and the construction of national advanced energy storage industry clusters, further enhancing the construction of industrial cluster covering battery materials, cells, electric motors, electric control units and terminal applications.