what is the new trend in CIBF 2026?
Sure, there are new trends of the fair in Shenzhen China last week. From May 13th to 15th, the 18th Shenzhen International Battery Technology Exchange/Exhibition (CIBF 2026) was held at the Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center. With an area of 280,000 square meters, 14 exhibition halls, nearly 3,200 exhibitors, and over 400,000 professional visitors, the scale once again broke records. At a glance, the global battery industry was in full bloom here.
Some people say that CIBF is increasingly resembling a test of physical endurance: walking over 30,000 steps a day and spanning nearly two kilometers between the north and south halls, one might easily miss a leading player in a niche market. But those who truly explore the entire venue understand that the value of CIBF 2026 lies not merely in its "bigness". It is not just a feast of scale, but also a testament to China's battery industry's journey from following to keeping pace with, and then leading the world. Moreover, it marks a crucial turning point for the industry as it shifts from cutthroat competition to high-quality development.
The "big" of CIBF first lies in the large scale of the industry. From a "small exhibition" with only a few hundred enterprises participating in the 1990s to the current "big exhibition" covering nearly 300,000 square meters, the expansion of the exhibition hall has failed to keep pace with the explosive growth of China's battery industry. Over the past decade or so, driven by both power batteries and energy storage batteries, the industry's capacity has been surging. While achieving remarkable success, it has also led to anxiety over low-price competition and homogenization.
However, at this year's CIBF, the trend has changed. The exhibition halls are no longer competing in terms of area or grandeur, but rather in technology, solutions, and ecosystem. The clamor of price wars has subsided, while the collision of cutting-edge technologies has intensified. Solid-state, semi-solid-state, sodium-ion, large cylindrical, long-duration energy storage... Multiple technology routes are on display simultaneously, shifting from "who is cheaper" to "who is more usable, who is more advanced, and who is safer".
Solid-state batteries have moved from the laboratory to the exhibition stand, becoming the focus of the entire event. Multiple routes, including sulfides, oxides, and polymers, are being pursued in parallel. Equipment manufacturers have simultaneously launched dedicated lamination and dry coating equipment, bringing the concept of "mass production of solid-state batteries" closer to the production line.
Sodium-ion batteries are presented with a new opportunity. In the face of the fluctuation of lithium resources, sodium-ion batteries, with their advantages of low cost, wide temperature range and resource independence, are expected to gain a firm foothold in the fields of energy storage and low-speed transportation.
Lithium-ion batteries are also being refined meticulously: high-nickel, silicon-based anodes, composite current collectors, and structural innovations are all advancing simultaneously. Blade batteries and Kirin batteries are undergoing iterative upgrades, achieving a four-dimensional balance of energy density, safety, lifespan, and cost. Smart manufacturing runs through the entire process, with high-speed lamination, laser tabbing, AI inspection, and digital twin factories, upgrading the "manufacturing dividend" to a technological dividend.
Big but not hollow, big but not rash. CIBF 2026 tells the world: China's battery industry is emerging from the low-price competition and truly taking the lead in technology.
If you only focus on battery cells, you have only grasped half of CIBF. What is truly astonishing is when the entire chain from "materials - equipment - battery cells - systems - applications - recycling" stands together, forming an ecological barrier that cannot be copied or broken down. This is the true source of CIBF's "grandeur".
Upstream materials are no longer supporting roles. New electrolyte and electrode materials suitable for solid-state and sodium-ion batteries are showcased in concentration, providing support for next-generation technologies from the source. Midstream equipment has shifted from "following" to "leading", with domestic equipment covering the entire process from coating, winding, stacking, formation, to testing, matching international first-class standards in terms of precision, efficiency, and stability, and supporting the parallel mass production of multiple technical routes.
Power and energy storage batteries shine together. In the past, power batteries were the absolute star, but now with the rapid development of industrial and commercial energy storage, grid-side energy storage, household photovoltaic storage and charging integration, and long-duration energy storage projects, energy storage batteries have grown to be on par with power batteries, and this is particularly evident at CIBF2026, where leading power battery enterprises are all intensifying their business layout in energy storage batteries.
Green circulation runs through the entire process. Battery recycling, secondary utilization, recycled materials, carbon footprint accounting, and zero-carbon factory solutions are all being fully implemented. Against the backdrop of the implementation of the EU's "New Battery Regulation", green compliance is no longer an option but a must-have for going global. From resource extraction to production and manufacturing, and then to recycling and regeneration, the entire life cycle of low carbon is becoming a new label for China's battery industry.
Not long ago, we envied multinational companies for having entire exhibition halls to themselves and having the entire industrial chain in their hands at some exhibitions; today, leading enterprises like CATL and BYD, along with their upstream and downstream partners, are making joint appearances, integrating original equipment manufacturers and parts suppliers, and collaborating on innovation, turning exhibition halls into microcosms of world-class industrial clusters. This is not the congestion brought about by being "big", but the composure of a mature ecosystem.
Great achievements come from leading the entire chain. The advantage of China's battery industry is no longer a single enterprise or a single product, but a high-quality industrial chain as a whole.
CIBF has grown increasingly larger, reflecting China's growing weight in the global energy landscape.
Over 90 countries and regions have participated, with the proportion of international exhibitors continuously rising. Global purchasers, investors, and technical experts flock to Shenzhen. CIBF is no longer "China's exhibition" but the "Chinese home ground" for the global battery industry.
In the past, we relied on scale and market; today, we are beginning to define the future with technology, standards, and ecology. From product export and overseas capacity expansion to technology licensing, joint research and development, and standard co-construction, China's battery industry is making a leap from exporting products to exporting an ecosystem.
Open cooperation has become the mainstream. Chinese and foreign enterprises are deeply integrated in high-end equipment, global certification, and cross-border supply chains, with each relying on the other. Together, they serve the global energy transition. Chinese enterprises' overseas expansion is not merely about capacity deployment but also involves the simultaneous export of technology and systems, driving the upgrading of local industrial chains.
However, the "big" also reminds us to keep a clear mind. Trade barriers, rules of origin, carbon tariffs, and the dependence on foreign key resources... challenges have never disappeared. Low-end expansion is not sustainable, and homogeneous competition has no future. Anti-internal competition, elimination of backwardness, strengthening innovation, and building brands are becoming industry consensus. Scale is the foundation, but quality, technology, brand, and compliance are the long-term solutions.
The composure of CIBF 2026 lies precisely in this: we recognize the "big", but pursue the "strong"; we embrace scale, but adhere to value; we are rooted in the domestic market, but look to the global stage. From price wars to value wars, from single-point breakthroughs to leading the entire chain, from product exports to ecological leadership, CIBF 2026, with an unprecedented grand event, writes a crucial stroke in the transformation of China's battery industry from "big" to "strong". It is both the concentrated explosion of decades of industrial accumulation and a clear declaration of high-quality development in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan.
The competition in the future will no longer be about who is bigger or faster, but rather who is more stable, greener, more innovative and more collaborative. And CIBF 2026 has already provided the answer: being big with a soul, achieving success through being big, and being magnanimous.