SHARES of major Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) surged yesterday, sending its market capitalization to top 1 trillion yuan (US$157 billion) for the first time and marking a significant moment in the development of China’s new energy vehicle industry.

Shenzhen-listed CATL jumped 5.98 percent to close at 434.10 yuan, exceeding its previous high of 424.99 yuan reached Jan. 8, 2021 to a new all-time high.

With a market capitalization of 1.01 trillion yuan, Ningde, Fujian Province-based CATL becomes the first firm on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise Market to hit 1 trillion yuan in market capitalization.

Founder and chairman Zeng Yuqun built CATL into China’s battery champion in less than a decade, creating the largest global producer of rechargeable cells for the plug-in vehicles considered to be the future of cars.

CATL is China’s largest power battery supplier, with a long-term market share of around half in the country. In April 2021, China’s power battery installed base was 8.4 gigawatt hours, down about 7 percent from March and up 134 percent year on year, according to the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance. CATL came in first, with an installed base of 3.82 gigawatt hours in April and a market share of 45.5 percent.

Zeng said May 21 at a shareholder meeting that CATL will release sodium-ion batteries around July this year. This means that power battery technology will see a major innovation. Zeng said sodium-ion batteries are likely to be more expensive than lithium-ion batteries because they are a new concept. (SD News)