China unveils global power battery developments index at world battery conference

China unveiled the 2025 Power Battery Industry Development Index on Wednesday at the World Power Battery Conference 2025, which opened in Yibin city, Sichuan Province in southwest China, underscoring the country's dominant position in the global power battery industry.

The new index provides a comprehensive evaluation of global and domestic industry trends, highlighting China's growing competitiveness in advanced battery technology and green manufacturing.

The index, released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), measures the power battery sector's development across three dimensions -- global, China, and enterprises -- based on 11 primary and 46 secondary indicators.

According to the MIIT, the global and China indexes focus mainly on market and technological dimensions from a regional perspective, while the enterprise index evaluates competitiveness, emphasizing products and innovation capabilities.

The report indicates that six of the world's top 10 power battery manufacturers by installed capacity are Chinese companies, underscoring the robust momentum of China's manufacturing capabilities. Domestically, industry concentration has continued to rise, with the top 10 companies representing over 96 percent of total installations.

The global power battery industry is poised to develop around three key trends: the accelerated globalization of Chinese enterprises, ongoing advancements in cutting-edge technologies like solid-state batteries, and the integration of green manufacturing capabilities with cost control as critical factors for competitiveness.

"By developing a power battery industry development index, we have quantified this complex, multidimensional system to objectively and comprehensively present the global industry landscape," said Qu Guochun, head of the MIIT's equipment industry development center.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's installed power battery capacity reached 493.9 gigawatt-hours, up 42.5 percent year on year. Chinese power batteries can now enable a 500 km driving range after a 15-minute charge on average.

China unveils global power battery developments index at world battery conference

As much as 37 percent of Americans saw their debt increase during this year's holiday shopping season, with average debt rising to 1,223 U.S. dollars from 1,181 dollars last year, according to the latest holiday debt survey of LendingTree, the nation's online loan marketplace.

The survey, conducted earlier this month among more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, found that rising tariffs and higher prices have put additional pressure on household budgets.

In a statement, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz said the strain becomes more pronounced during the holiday season, as many consumers are reluctant to change long-standing shopping traditions, even as costs rise, leading to higher debt levels.

According to the survey, 63 percent of borrowers expect it will take three months or longer to repay their holiday-related debt, while about 41 percent said they are still paying off debt from last year. Schulz warned that if borrowers need six months to a year or more to repay their balances, the situation becomes more serious due to high credit card interest rates.

Data from Bankrate show that the average U.S. credit card interest rate currently exceeds 20 percent.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumers have grown increasingly pessimistic about their financial situation. Data released on Tuesday by The Conference Board showed that the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index fell for the fifth consecutive month in December, dropping to 89.1, the lowest level since April, amid deepening anxiety over jobs and income.

Over one-third of Americans rack up holiday debt: survey