# Looking at China's Battery Export Boom from the Hong Kong Expo: Sodium-ion Batteries Are All the Rage, Enterprises Are Abandoning High-Margin Illusions

Ask AI · How do companies respond to the challenge of price transparency in overseas markets when expanding globally?

Ji Mian News Reporter | Gao Jing

Ji Mian News Editor | Zhang Hui

On the afternoon of March 11, when Ji Mian News reporter arrived at the Pylon Energy (Changxing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Pylon Energy) booth at the scheduled interview time, Chen Feiying was on a work call.

Five minutes later, she hurriedly sat down at the interview table. But as the first question was asked, a group of professional visitors paused in front of Pylon Energy’s booth. “Sorry! I need to attend to this first!” Before she finished speaking, Chen Feiying stood up and left her seat to greet the customer at the booth.

Throughout the day, she received multiple waves of visitors, constantly introducing the company’s export products—this has been her routine during the exhibition days.

From March 10-12, the 2026 Asia International Battery and Energy Storage Technology Exhibition and the International Battery Technology and Innovation Application Summit (hereinafter referred to as TBSA Exhibition) was held at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. As the Export Business Director, Chen Feiying was among the busiest people at the event.

Chen Feiying explaining products to professional visitors, photo: Gao Jing

The TBSA Exhibition is organized by the Informa Group, featuring about 350 global companies and over 20,000 professional visitors, with 65% coming from overseas.

Many exhibitors like Pylon Energy see this exhibition as a platform to expand into overseas markets, hoping to discover new opportunities for going global.

Founded in 2024, Pylon Energy is a newcomer in the industry, mainly engaged in manufacturing and sales of lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries, and sodium batteries.

Sodium batteries are the main product promoted at this exhibition and are the most frequently asked about by visitors from around the world. Chen Feiying believes this is mainly because sodium batteries still belong to an emerging sector in the battery industry, attracting more interest.

Sodium-ion batteries are a new type of battery that uses sodium ions as charge carriers for charging and discharging. Currently, the material systems for sodium ions mainly fall into three categories: layered oxides, polyanionic compounds, and Prussian blue. Different material systems have different characteristics, which directly lead to performance variations in sodium batteries.

Compared to lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries have advantages such as abundant resource reserves, lower costs, and fast charging. Theoretically, the cost of sodium battery materials can be 30%-40% lower than that of lithium batteries, but they lag behind in energy density.

“Compared to the domestic market, sodium batteries are easier to promote overseas,” Chen Feiying realized, noting that based on the European market’s related carbon footprint certification rules, this market has a higher acceptance of sodium batteries.

Gong Lithium Power previously analyzed that sodium batteries can achieve over 95% recovery rates for sodium and iron, far higher than the recovery efficiency of lithium, cobalt, and nickel in lithium batteries.

The emphasis on battery safety among overseas customers also creates a favorable market environment for sodium batteries. According to Chen Feiying, since large-scale deployment has not yet occurred, current overseas applications of sodium batteries mainly focus on starting fields, with potential to expand further into power and energy storage batteries in the future.

Starting fields refer to batteries used for short-term, high-power engine or equipment startups.

Pylon Energy’s previous export products mainly focused on lead-acid batteries, but this sector faces severe price competition with little profit margin. Therefore, Chen Feiying has shifted her focus to sodium batteries, hoping they can become the main export product to replace lead-acid batteries in the future.

Not far from Pylon Energy’s booth, BTR New Energy Materials (920185.BJ), a leading global anode material company, is preparing for another major event.

At 2:30 pm on March 11, BTR will globally debut two ultra-fast charging graphite anode products. Staff are busy debugging live streaming equipment, making final preparations for this worldwide launch.

“Everyone in the industry is promoting fast-charging products now,” a BTR staff member told Ji Mian News. The new products include artificial graphite and natural graphite, achieving a 6C fast charge capability that fully charges in 10 minutes. “We are the only company in the industry capable of 6C fast charging with both artificial and natural anode materials.”

Choosing to debut at the Hong Kong TBSA Exhibition clearly signals BTR’s intention—to showcase to the overseas market.

“We hope to leverage this exhibition to let more people in the international market know that BTR has such fast-charging products,” the staff member said.

BTR is one of the earliest Chinese companies in the anode material industry to go abroad. In 2024, its overseas plant in Indonesia officially started operation, with an annual capacity of 160,000 tons, making it the first Chinese anode material company to operate and produce overseas.

According to the same staff member, BTR’s overseas expansion has been market- and customer-driven, with a clear plan and strategy. Currently, BTR’s global market share of anode materials is about 25%-27%, ranking first in the industry.

These two companies exemplify China’s lithium battery enterprises actively exploring overseas markets.

“Chinese battery companies must go abroad to survive,”

During the TBSA summit, Ningde Times (300750.SZ) Global General Counsel John H. Kwon expressed this view.

John pointed out that the Chinese battery market is now highly saturated, with prices at extremely low levels, leaving no profit margins. As a result, the current trend among Chinese battery companies is to go overseas. “Basically, the battlefield for Chinese lithium battery companies has shifted abroad,” John said.

However, venturing abroad is not without difficulties.

When asked about actual returns in overseas markets, the response from BTR’s staff revealed a sobering reality—companies need to abandon the illusion of high margins.

“Everyone used to think that overseas customers don’t care about price and can accept higher prices. But in fact, with the establishment of various joint ventures and foreign-invested companies, domestic product prices have become very transparent.”

This means the once-imagined “high overseas margins” are fading. As Chinese companies expand globally and foreign brands establish subsidiaries in China, price gaps are rapidly narrowing, making the “high prices abroad, low prices domestically” scenario difficult to sustain.

It’s not only BTR facing price challenges in going global.

At the Ruili Lanjun (00666.HK) booth, several Southeast Asian visitors are gathered. This lithium battery “dark horse” company has sent a team mainly composed of Southeast Asian sales staff. The reason is simple—many Southeast Asian customers are participating in this exhibition.

Southeast Asian visitors at Ruili Lanjun’s booth, photo: Gao Jing

“Many customers are asking questions, brochures are almost all taken,” said Xiao Tian (pseudonym), a Southeast Asian sales representative, with a hoarse voice.

Ruili Lanjun started its overseas expansion early. According to the company’s overseas business manager, in its early days, products mainly entered overseas markets through vehicle integration or energy storage projects.

As the business grew, Ruili Lanjun accelerated its systematic layout from 2023, establishing subsidiaries in Germany and the US, and starting construction of its first overseas manufacturing base in Indonesia in 2025. The experience of its parent company, Qing Shan Industrial, in globalization also supports its overseas efforts.

Currently, Southeast Asia is emerging as a growth driver in the global energy storage market. Driven by policy support and weak power infrastructure, the demand for energy storage in the region is exploding.

Ruili Lanjun believes Southeast Asia is a promising emerging new energy market, with rapid development in energy storage, electric two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles.

However, unlike traditional European and American markets, Southeast Asian customers are more price-sensitive. “In some areas, prices are even lower than domestically, to the point where we can’t sell,” Xiao Tian said.

Switching the perspective from batteries to downstream charging companies, their overseas expansion is another scene.

When asked about profit margins abroad, Wang Bing, General Manager of the Trina Electric Park Division, responded: overseas equipment prices are indeed twice as high as domestic. From the perspective of selling charging stations alone, domestic gross profit margins are about 10%-20%, while overseas are much higher.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean companies will make more money. Because in overseas markets, there are additional costs not reflected in equipment sales, including certification, maintaining certifications, branding, intellectual property, and after-sales operations.

Therefore, Trina Electric’s strategy is “systematic export,” covering everything from equipment to platforms, services, and even production lines. “If you can’t do a systematic export in one region, it’s better to strategically give up,” Wang Bing said.

Initially, Trina Electric aligned its overseas expansion with domestic automakers’ efforts. Now, it has established a presence in the UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Brazil.

Unlike some battery companies’ “must go abroad or perish” survival anxiety, Trina Electric’s overseas expansion is mainly aimed at seeking new growth opportunities.

Wang Bing explained that the domestic charging market is not yet saturated, but competition is fierce, with over ten thousand registered charging pile manufacturers—many are low-cost electrical parts suppliers or operate based on specific projects.

In contrast, although challenging, overseas markets can offer more sustainable business models once a complete service system is established.

“Every country has its own culture, management style, and even trade barriers. The biggest challenge is how to export a complete construction and operation plan that the country can truly accept.”

After visiting the entire TBSA exhibition, Ji Mian News reporter felt that for many lithium battery companies, going abroad is a journey burdened with anxiety, but they all hold hope to keep moving forward.

“After the press conference, there will definitely be continuous calls,” said a BTR staff member when talking about the upcoming product launch, with confidence in their voice. This confidence comes from the technology itself—when the product is sufficiently advanced, the market will come to you.

The overseas business head of Ruili Lanjun summarized their future overseas strategy with the word “deep cultivation.” “It’s not just about market expansion, but more importantly, bringing the Chinese new energy industry’s established system to overseas markets in a tailored way, rather than simply selling products.”

He gave an example: Southeast Asia is still in the early stages. As the local new energy industry develops and projects and capacities in Indonesia and other countries gradually come online, Southeast Asia is expected to play an increasingly important role in the company’s overseas business.

Chen Feiying also holds high hopes for the future. The interest from overseas customers in sodium batteries has given her a direction. Although short-term profits are unlikely, she is willing to bet on the future—“as long as the product quality is good, we are confident to push it overseas.”