What’s Behind China’s 70% Global Share of EV Batteries?

The global race for electric vehicle dominance is no longer just about cars on the road. It is a contest of scale, technology, and strategy, and China’s battery makers have surged to the front, controlling more than 70 percent of the market and redefining who holds power in the industry. South Korea’s once-dominant players now scramble to catch up after betting on high-end U.S. demand, and policymakers around the world are confronting the reality that future mobility may hinge on supply chains centered in Beijing

China’s electric vehicle revolution has a lesser‑known but equally dramatic counterpart beneath the sleek body panels and high‑tech interfaces of its cars: the rise of battery manufacturers that now supply more than 70 percent of the world’s EV batteries, reshaping the global auto industry and leaving long‑time leaders in Asia scrambling to keep up. Analysts and industry officials say this dominance reflects not only China’s scale and technology but also strategic decisions by rivals, including South Korea’s battery giants, that underestimated how rapidly the market would shift.

Electric vehicles made up an ever‑larger share of car production worldwide in 2024, with more than 17 million EVs built, largely because of China’s expansion. Of those, about 12.4 million were produced in China, cementing the country’s role as the center of the world’s EV supply chain.

At the heart of this transformation are Chinese battery makers like Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and BYD, which have become indispensable suppliers to automakers from Asia to Europe. CATL alone commanded roughly 36 to 38 percent of the global EV battery market in 2025, while BYD supplied close to 18 percent, giving Chinese firms a combined share that industry trackers estimate at more than 70 percent.

That share reflects growth not only in China’s home market but also abroad. In the first half of 2025, Chinese battery producers expanded into Europe and other regions previously dominated by Japanese and South Korean firms, capturing market share even outside China’s borders.

The shift has exasperated executives and policymakers in South Korea, once home to the world’s most respected battery technology. LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI, which together once commanded a majority of non‑Chinese global battery supply, have seen their share slip as Chinese firms undercut them on cost and scale and aggressively adopted new technologies such as lithium iron phosphate cells. In markets outside China, the combined share of the three South Korean companies fell to the high 30‑percent range by late 2025, down sharply from just a few years earlier.

Industry analysts point to strategic bets by South Korean firms that did not pay off as the market evolved. Many focused on supplying high‑end nickel‑rich batteries for premium EV segments in the United States and Europe, assuming that Western demand would remain the key driver of battery growth. China, by contrast, built scale rapidly by prioritizing large, mid‑priced and affordable EVs. That created an enormous home market that subsidized capacity expansion and drove costs down.

China’s focus on lithium iron phosphate batteries, which use more abundant and less expensive materials than nickel‑cobalt alternatives favored by South Korean makers, also gave Chinese producers an edge. This trend accelerated as Chinese electric vehicle brands like BYD rolled out models equipped with the technology that appealed to cost‑conscious buyers in markets from Southeast Asia to Europe.

Government support played a significant role. Beijing provided tax breaks, low‑cost financing and other incentives to battery firms and EV manufacturers that cut costs and encouraged investment in manufacturing. Once seen as a tool for nurturing domestic champions, these policies helped create globally competitive firms in less than a decade. This industrial backing contrasts with South Korea’s later and more cautious approach, which relied on private capital and partnerships with foreign carmakers rather than the same level of state direction that characterized China’s strategy.

The consequences extend beyond the corporate boardroom. Countries that hoped to build their own EV supply chains are now heavily dependent on Chinese battery technology. In Europe, where automakers once looked to Japanese and Korean partners for battery cells, Chinese suppliers are increasingly winning contracts because they can deliver capacity at lower prices. In the United States, policymakers have raised national security concerns about reliance on foreign battery imports, and Congress has passed incentives to boost domestic production. Yet even with subsidies, building a competitive supply chain in North America has proven difficult.

Some South Korean companies are adapting by pursuing new niches. Executives have said they are exploring advanced chemistries with higher energy density and branching into other high‑growth sectors such as robotics and next‑generation storage systems. The hope is that these areas, which require batteries capable of delivering both high power and compact size, could give South Korean innovators an edge where China’s current strengths in scale and cost are less decisive.

Still, China’s dominance in today’s battery market appears entrenched. Its manufacturers control essential parts of the global supply chain, from material processing to cell assembly, and their production footprint continues to expand. That reach has helped China not only secure a lead in EV batteries but also shape the future direction of electric mobility worldwide.

For South Korean firms and their allies in the United States and Europe, the challenge now is to carve out sustainable competitive advantages in a landscape where China’s scale and government support set a high bar. Whether they can regain significant ground or pivot into new battery technologies remains one of the most consequential questions in the global race for the future of transport.

By Mohd Hassan, edited by Faustine Ngila (Impact Newswire).

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