Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology Co Ltd has begun the process for an initial public offering, raising the prospect of becoming the first solid-state battery company to list on China’s A-share market, according to regulatory filings.
The company has completed IPO tutoring and filing registration with the Beijing bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and plans to seek a listing on ChiNext, the Shenzhen exchange’s growth-focused board, the regulator’s website shows. If approved, the listing would mark the first time a solid-state battery developer has gone public on China’s domestic equity market.
Founded in 2016, WeLion New Energy focuses on hybrid solid-liquid electrolyte lithium-ion batteries and all-solid-state lithium batteries, with applications spanning electric vehicles, energy storage and consumer electronics. The company is the sole industrialisation platform for solid-state battery technology developed by the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
WeLion has positioned itself at the forefront of domestic solid-state battery research. It introduced the concept of “semi-solid-state batteries” in 2017 to address interface challenges between solid electrolytes and electrodes, and in 2023 it began mass production of semi-solid-state cells with an energy density of 360 watt-hours per kilogram. Those batteries were later used in models such as Nio’s ET7, enabling driving ranges of more than 1,000 kilometres on a single charge.
The company has filed more than 400 patents, with over 100 granted, and has completed nine rounds of financing. According to the 2025 Hurun Global Unicorn List, released in June, WeLion was valued at about 18.5 billion yuan ($2.6 billion). Its shareholders include state-backed funds and strategic investors such as Nio Capital, Xiaomi-affiliated funds, Huawei’s Hubble Investment and Geely Holding.
WeLion currently operates four major production bases in Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong, with total annual capacity of 28.2 gigawatt-hours and plans to exceed 100 GWh. A pilot facility for all-solid-state batteries is expected to support mass production around 2027.
Industry observers say the IPO push reflects accelerating progress in solid-state battery research in China this year, as domestic developers seek to address long-standing technical hurdles and reshape the future direction of global power battery technologies.
