China Chamber of Commerce for Imports & Export of Machinery & Electric Products (CCCME) reported that based on the data from the General Administration of Customs of the PRC, exports of Li-ion batteries from China in 2021 came to US$28.43 billion in value. This figure reflects a substantial year-on-year increase of 78.3%. The value of Li-ion battery exports in December 2021 reached a new monthly high with the year-on-year growth rate hitting 80.9%. Also by December, the year-on-year growth rate for the value of monthly Li-ion battery exports had been maintained at double digits for 18 consecutive months. In sum, China’s lithium battery industry was booming during 2021.
The 2021 ranking of the export markets for Chinese Li-ion batteries by value shows that US was the largest. The annual value of battery exports to the US doubled to reach US$4.97 billion. The US also accounted for 17.5% of the total value of Chinese Li-ion battery exports in 2021. Germany, South Korea, and Vietnam were second, third, and fourth respectively in the ranking. The value of battery exports to Germany came to US$3.49 billion, translating to a massive increase of 135% from 2020. The value of battery exports to South Korea rose by 110% from 2020 to around US$3 billion. The value of battery exports to Vietnam grew by 75% from 2020 to US$2.53 billion.
Citing data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, CCCME also reported that domestic production of Li-ion batteries totaled 23.26 billion units for 2021, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 22.4%. In comparison, production figures for 2020 and 2019 came to 18.84 billion and 15.72 billion units respectively.