China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly convened a high-level symposium on January 7, 2026, with 16 leading battery firms in attendance. The regulators issued a warning against “below-cost” price wars and called for a halt to disorderly capacity build-out across power and energy storage battery sectors.
The meeting aimed to “further regulate competition” in the rapidly growing battery industry and push back on irrational market behaviours, where price dumping and uncoordinated expansion have generated unsustainable dynamics. China’s battery ecosystem — including both power and stationary storage cells — has been a cornerstone of global supply, but recent market behaviour has spotlighted structural imbalances in pricing, capacity deployment and quality assurance.
Industry representatives acknowledged that while aggressive pricing has driven global competitiveness, it has also eroded profitability for many suppliers and incentivised short-term market share gains at the expense of orderly development. The regulators emphasised enhanced market oversight, price law enforcement, and proactive guidance of capacity planning to prevent overcapacity risks and maintain a healthier industry trajectory.
The move follows broader policy efforts to pivot China’s energy sectors toward higher quality, innovation-driven development and away from pure scale competition, balancing local strengths with long-term sustainability.
BasenPower Commentary: strategic implications for the global storage ecosystem
From BasenPower’s perspective, China’s new regulatory signal has three key implications for the global energy storage industry:
1. Quality and compliance are replacing headline price as competitive differentiators
The crackdown on “below-cost” pricing underscores a shift toward valuing standardised quality, certified performance, and credible warranties over simply being the lowest bidder. For developers, EPCs and financiers, this means procurement decisions increasingly reward suppliers who demonstrate traceable quality assurance, production consistency and compliance with international norms.
2. Orderly capacity planning supports global supply stability
Uncoordinated capacity expansion and price dumping may temporarily boost volume, but long-term sustainability requires balance. As regulators tighten oversight on capacity growth, the industry can expect more predictable supply chains, fewer boom–bust cycles, and less volatility in lead times and delivery risk — a positive signal for project roadmaps that extend into 2027 and beyond.
3. Strategic sourcing and diversification become risk management pillars
With China signalling greater market discipline, project teams should build procurement strategies that combine bankable Chinese cell sources with qualified alternative suppliers to mitigate disruption risk, compliance uncertainty, or sudden policy shifts. A diversified sourcing strategy also supports financing confidence and cross-border regulatory compliance.
At BasenPower, we see this regulatory pivot as a maturation moment for the battery industry: moving away from “race to the bottom” pricing toward value-oriented competition, where quality, warranty clarity, and lifecycle performance are increasingly decisive for both utility-scale and distributed storage projects.
If your team is navigating supplier selection, procurement risk, or quality standards in the current battery market environment, BasenPower can help with sourcing criteria, compliance guidance, and bankable system design frameworks.