After years of rapid expansion, China's new energy vehicle and lithium battery industry chain is entering a new stage of large-scale integration. The previously intense price war within the industry is receding, replaced by a profound transformation centered on "strategic restructuring and specialized integration".

This transformation runs through the entire industrial chain, from downstream vehicle manufacturing to upstream lithium carbonate production, with the core goal of optimizing resource allocation and enhancing the overall competitiveness of the industry.

The downstream automotive manufacturing industry was the first to feel this wave of integration.

At the end of July, China Changan Automobile Group Co., Ltd. was officially established as an independent state-owned automobile enterprise. This move marks a crucial step in the strategic restructuring of the national team in the automotive industry.

The chairman of the company, Zhu Huarong, has announced a clear goal: by 2030, the group's production and sales scale will reach 5 million vehicles, of which new energy vehicles will account for over 60%. To achieve this goal, the company plans to invest a total of 200 billion yuan over the next decade.

Another state-owned automobile company, Dongfeng Motor Group, chose internal integration. The company has newly established Yipai Automotive Technology Company, which will unify the management of its three major independent brands, Dongfeng Yipai, Dongfeng Nano, and Dongfeng Fengshen.

These three brands are positioned in the market ranges of 100000 to 200000 yuan, below 100000 yuan, and 100000 to 150000 yuan, respectively. Through this integration, Dongfeng aims to streamline its brand structure, concentrate resources to promote its independent passenger car business, and strive to achieve an annual sales volume of over 1 million new energy vehicles by 2025.

The actions of private car companies are equally rapid. In February 2025, Jike and Lynk&Co, two major brands under Geely Holding Group, announced their merger. Lynk&Co has become a non wholly owned subsidiary of Jike. Geely stated that this move aims to reduce related party transactions and eliminate interbank competition.

In the past, although the positioning of the two brands was different, there has been a crossover in pricing. After integration, the brand positioning will be clearer: Jike focuses on the market of over 300000 yuan, while Lynk&Co focuses on the market of over 200000 yuan.

More importantly, this move is expected to bring significant cost savings, with R&D investment expected to save 10% to 20% and material cost savings of 5% to 8%.

The logic of integration also extends to the battery business in the middle of the industry chain.

After brand integration, Geely restructured its battery business in April and established an independent battery industry group called "Jiyao Tong". The battery business, which was previously scattered across multiple bases, was managed uniformly and focused on the "explosive battery cell" strategy, shrinking the product line to no more than 10 models. This strategy aims to reduce costs and avoid resource waste through large-scale production.

At the same time, a national team of new energy batteries led by central enterprises is taking shape. On July 14th, Zhongqi New Energy (formerly Qingdao Lishen), a power battery enterprise jointly established by China FAW and Dongfeng Motor, was officially established.

The company not only received capital and market order support from state-owned enterprise shareholders, but also announced new technologies such as rich lithium manganese based batteries, and plans to achieve vehicle installation by 2026. Its actions aim to cultivate a leading power battery enterprise with state-owned background.

Capital is also driving the integration of the battery industry. In April of this year, Guangzhou Industrial Control Group, a subsidiary of Guangzhou State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, officially became the controlling shareholder of Funeng Technology. After the transaction is completed, Funeng Technology will be able to integrate more deeply into the local automotive industry chain in Guangzhou and receive collaborative support from car companies such as GAC Group and Xiaopeng Motors. At the same time, the company will also take advantage of the state-owned background to accelerate the construction of its overseas bases in Türkiye and other countries to expand the international market.

The integration of the industrial chain can ultimately be traced back to the upstream lithium resources. Ensuring low-cost and stable supply of lithium resources has become the key to industry competition.

In January 2025, Salt Lake Corporation announced that China Salt Lake Industry Group would become its controlling shareholder, while China Minmetals Corporation would become the actual controller. The new controlling shareholder has set a goal for Salt Lake Corporation to increase its lithium salt production capacity to 200000 tons per year by 2030, which is almost double its existing capacity. This move demonstrates that national power is leading the strategic integration of core salt lake resources domestically.

Large private mining enterprises are also taking active actions. Mining giant Zijin Mining has revealed plans to acquire control of Zangge Mining, a major domestic lithium extraction company from salt lakes. This transaction will enable Zijin Mining to rapidly expand its presence in the lithium resources sector.

In addition, changes in control of some companies also indicate the possibility of new integration. The actual controller of Jiangte Electric, a lithium extraction enterprise using lithium mica, has been changed to Wang Xin, an individual investor who has held shares in the company for eight years. The announcement stated that the new controller has a deep accumulation in the new energy industry and is expected to bring resources to the listed company and improve its operational efficiency.

This series of integration actions from automobiles to lithium carbonate indicates that China's new energy industry chain is moving from wild growth to maturity. Resources are accelerating towards top enterprises with technological, capital, and management advantages.

The goal of this transformation is very clear: to drive the industry from "price internalization" to a higher dimensional "value competition", and its results will profoundly affect the industry landscape in the coming years.