China has cemented its status as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the global energy storage sector, successfully transforming itself from an industry follower into the global pacemaker, said industry experts and government officials.

By the end of 2025, the nation's cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage had reached a staggering 144.7 gigawatts, capturing 51.9 percent of the global market — the first time China has accounted for more than half of the world's total share.

This historic milestone, detailed in the recently released Energy Storage Industry Research White Paper 2026 by the China Energy Storage Alliance, underscores a profound paradigm shift.

Driven by relentless technological innovation, a massive pivot toward localised global manufacturing, and aggressive strategic planning by both private pioneers and State-owned behemoths, China is now setting the pace of the global energy transition, it said.

China's energy storage industry has achieved large-scale development, with the number of newly added enterprises reaching a record high and industry capacity continuously increasing, said Chen Haisheng, chairman of CNESA.

Chen emphasised that China's primary energy storage technologies are now largely on par with the most advanced global levels, with lithium batteries, compressed air energy storage and flow batteries achieving international leadership positions.