Battery Market Intelligence · Data period 2024–2025 (customs/industry) · Last reviewed 2026-09-16
| Geography | China |
|---|---|
| Year | 2024–2026 (as sourced per figure) |
| Battery scope | Lithium-ion accumulators (HS 850760) for the headline export figures; other rows state their scope per figure |
| HS Code | 850760 — lithium-ion accumulators (headline export series) |
| Unit | US$ / yuan / TWh — stated per figure |
| Data source | IEA, customs/industry data, research estimates (see Sources) |
| Method | Primary statistics first (customs, MIIT, IEA, LME where available); industry research estimates otherwise; conflicting figures are flagged and explained, never averaged — see methodology. |
| Confidence | High — Chinese customs/trade statistics |
| Period | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 (full year) | US$61.1 billion | 53.4% of global battery exports |
| H1 2025 | US$34.1 billion (+17.6% YoY) | 2.16 billion cells exported |
| 2025 (full year) | US$76.8 billion | EU ≈ 40% of the total |
| US imports from China | $15.3B (2024) → $11.9B (2025) | Sharp decline |
Sources: Chinese customs data, industry reporting. Scope note: headline figures (2024 US$61.1B / 2025 US$76.8B) refer to lithium-ion accumulators under HS 850760, excluding lead-acid and primary batteries. The 53.4% share is China's lithium-ion exports as a percentage of global lithium-ion exports under the same HS code.
The headline growth hides a rebalancing of destinations. The EU is now the dominant buyer (~40%), while US imports from China fell sharply — the visible effect of US policy pressure and local-content rules (see US market). China's export growth is being absorbed increasingly by Europe and the rest of the world, not by North America.
The 53.4% share is the structural fact: one in every two lithium batteries traded globally ships from China. The growth rate (+17.6% H1 2025) shows the volume engine still runs despite tariffs — because demand outside the US, especially European EV and storage build-out, keeps expanding (see China's lithium industry and HS code structure).
The year-on-year rate: $61.1B (2024) to $76.8B (2025) is +25.7% — export growth running ahead of the market's overall growth, which is what a 53% global share plus a re-routing of destinations looks like in arithmetic.
My position: China's export numbers say something subtler than "growth" — the growth is real, but it is re-routing: Europe has replaced America as the destination that matters, and the 53% share is what makes China's battery trade a macroeconomic fact rather than a company story.
Why: Tariffs do not stop the volume; they move it. Reading the export series only for growth misses the destination shift that policy has forced — and that shift, not the total, is what a supplier should plan around.
This is the author's editorial view, not investment or purchasing advice.
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