Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said China will require electric vehicles to retain their power batteries when they are scrapped, as authorities move to tighten oversight of battery recycling amid a surge in retired batteries from the fast-growing EV sector.
The requirement was outlined in a policy document released on Friday by six government departments, including MIIT, and will take effect on April 1, 2026. The rules are intended to prevent discarded power batteries from entering informal or unregulated recycling channels.
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Under the new regulations, China will implement full life-cycle management of power batteries. Electric vehicles that reach the end of their service life but no longer have a power battery installed will be classified as incomplete vehicles and will not meet scrapping requirements.
The policy does not apply to electric vehicle models that support battery swapping. MIIT said authorities are still studying and formulating separate management measures for battery-swap vehicles.
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Power battery makers will be responsible for recycling batteries they manufacture or import for sale and use in China, except for those sold directly to EV manufacturers. Battery producers are also barred from refusing to accept retired batteries transferred by battery leasing companies, battery-swap operators and authorised vehicle repair enterprises for which they bear recycling responsibility.
China’s move comes as large volumes of batteries from earlier generations of electric vehicles approach retirement. By 2030, the country’s annual output of waste power batteries is expected to exceed 1 million tonnes, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
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The issue has been under scrutiny for several years. A 2021 report by state broadcaster China Central Television estimated that China generated about 200,000 tonnes of retired power batteries in 2020, a figure projected to rise to around 780,000 tonnes by 2025.
Power batteries typically reach the end of their automotive life once capacity falls to about 80%, after which they are no longer considered suitable for vehicle use. Authorities have increasingly focused on formal recycling and secondary-use pathways as China works to reduce environmental risks and improve resource recovery from the EV supply chain.
