Climate Changed

China's Menswear Maker Swaps Stitching for Lithium Batteries

  • Ningbo Shanshan caps battery push with investment in anodes
  • China-based companies dominate lithium-ion battery manufacture
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Ten years ago, Ningbo Shanshan Co. was primarily a maker of menswear turning out shirts, casual wear and business suits from its base of Ningbo, an industrial hub in China’s Zhejiang province. Not anymore.

This week, the company announced that it will spend 3.81 billion yuan ($570 million) on a new energy-storage project in China’s northern city of Baotou, bolstering its growing interest in the research, development and manufacture of lithium-ion batteries.