"Those who share the same aspirations will not be kept apart by mountains and seas."
On November 5, 2025, the 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened as scheduled. As one of its key supporting events, the Hongqiao International Economic Forum focuses on major global economic issues. This year, a Parallel Forum on New Energy Storage was held, reflecting the world’s shared attention to energy transition and sustainable development.
On the afternoon of November 5, the Parallel Forum on “Promoting High-Quality Development of New Energy Storage to Accelerate the Global Energy Transition”, jointly hosted by the National Energy Administration (NEA) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), was successfully held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The event was co-organized by the Institute of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASISD), the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS, The Paper, and the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA).
The forum brought together high-level guests from across China and abroad. Notable participants included Mr. Song Hongkun, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the NEA; Ms. Xiao Lu, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade, MOFCOM; Mr. Zheng Deyan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and Director of the Provincial Energy Bureau; Mr. Yang Yang, Director of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Energy Bureau; Mr. Meng Qingqiang, Chief Engineer of the State Grid Corporation of China; Mr. Wang Shaowu, Deputy General Manager of China Southern Power Grid; Mr. Wang Shaomin, Deputy General Manager of State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC); Prof. Xia Qing from Tsinghua University; Mr. Pan Jiaofeng, President of CASISD; Mr. Yu Zhenhua, Executive Vice Chairman of CNESA; and Mr. Chen Xiang, Senior Vice President of EVE Energy and Head of EVE Energy Storage.
International guests included Mr. Laureano Ortega Murillo, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Nicaragua for Investments, Trade and International Cooperation, and Mr. Adam Bralczyk, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Shanghai.
Dr. Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, joined the event via video link.
The forum attracted extensive participation across the energy storage ecosystem, highlighting a shared commitment to high-quality development and open collaboration.
Leaders from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and provincial energy authorities from Liaoning, Hebei, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Hunan, Guangxi, and Gansu attended.
Executives from major state-owned enterprises such as State Grid, China Southern Power Grid, Huaneng, Datang, Huadian, SPIC, China Three Gorges Corporation, China Energy, POWERCHINA, Energy China, CGN, Inner Mongolia Energy Group, and Guangxi Energy Group were also present.
Representatives from leading enterprises, research institutes, and financial institutions participated, alongside international delegates from the Embassy of the French Republic, the Consulate General of the Republic of Finland in Shanghai, and the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad – Greater China (AHK), reflecting strong global consensus and cooperation toward energy transition.
The session was moderated by Mr. Liu Deshun, Director-General of the Department of Energy Conservation and Science & Technology Equipment at the NEA.
In his opening address, Deputy Director Song Hongkun emphasized that, marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the NEA continues to implement the “Four Revolutions, One Cooperation” energy security strategy, building the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system and a complete new energy industry chain.
As a key enabler of China’s new power system, new energy storage has achieved remarkable progress — reaching over 100 GW of installed capacity by September 2025 — and has become essential for renewable integration and energy security.
Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China’s new energy storage has directly driven over 200 billion yuan in project investment and over 1 trillion yuan across the industrial chain, supplying high-performance products globally and contributing to the energy transition. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan, the NEA will continue promoting innovation, improving market mechanisms, and fostering new productivity in the energy sector to ensure the carbon peak goal is met on schedule.
Mr. Laureano Ortega Murillo stated that Nicaragua is accelerating industrialization and energy diversification to meet growing power demand.
With abundant solar, wind, and geothermal resources, Nicaragua has already partnered with CCCC, POWERCHINA, and Huawei in renewable and storage projects. He welcomed further Chinese investment and cooperation to jointly advance global energy transition.
Ms. Xiao Lu, Deputy Director-General of MOFCOM’s Department of Foreign Trade, noted that Chinese energy storage enterprises are rapidly expanding abroad, leveraging technological and supply chain advantages to power the global green transition.
She highlighted three major trends:
Continuous expansion of trade volume;
Strengthened role as a global supply chain hub;
Steady growth in outbound investment.
Looking ahead, China will further support two-way openness — encouraging foreign enterprises to establish R&D centers in China and supporting domestic companies to “go global” — while enhancing international standards cooperation and alignment.
Mr. Bian Guangqi, Deputy Director-General of NEA’s Department of Energy Conservation and Science & Technology Equipment, delivered a keynote titled “Vigorously Developing New Energy Storage to Support New Power Systems.”
He highlighted that NEA continues to advance innovation and comprehensive policy measures, creating favorable conditions for technology progress, industrial growth, and improved commercial models in the new energy storage sector.
Dr. Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, stressed via video that the world faces an urgent decarbonization challenge. While renewable energy costs have fallen sharply, he noted that achieving deep decarbonization requires multiple complementary technologies.
He praised China’s global leadership in large-scale wind turbines, battery storage, and nuclear cost control, and emphasized that efficient, affordable energy storage, next-generation nuclear, and carbon capture and storage (CCUS) will be crucial to achieving climate goals.
Mr. Meng Qingqiang, Chief Engineer of State Grid, analyzed challenges such as planning mismatches, insufficient market value recognition, and incomplete safety standards. He proposed coordinated planning, diversified market mechanisms, and accelerated innovation to support new power system construction.
Mr. Wang Shaowu of China Southern Power Grid emphasized that energy storage, as a strategic technology for new power systems, faces both opportunities and challenges in achieving high-quality development. He outlined the company’s strategy to strengthen value creation, system integration, and platform-based innovation.
Mr. Wang Shaomin of SPIC reported that China’s cumulative new energy storage capacity reached 114 GW by October 2025, marking a shift from policy-driven to market-driven growth. SPIC now operates 279 projects totaling 8.74 GW (20.94 GWh), ranking first nationwide, and will continue promoting global collaboration and innovation.
Mr. Zheng Deyan from Shandong Energy Bureau shared Shandong’s leadership in energy storage, noting 9.74 GW of operational capacity, ranking among the top three provinces in China for three consecutive years. The province aims to establish a “predictable, sustainable, and scalable” market mechanism to ensure reasonable returns and reduce investment risk.
Prof. Xia Qing from Tsinghua University analyzed China’s policy evolution from early mandatory installation to market-based incentives such as capacity compensation and spot trading, enabling rapid capacity growth and cost reductions exceeding 50% since 2022.
Mr. Pan Jiaofeng, President of CASISD, reviewed China’s progress in wind, solar, EVs, and hydrogen, and called for faster development of a non-fossil energy–dominated, innovation-driven power system to balance energy security and low-carbon transition.
Mr. Yu Zhenhua, Executive Vice Chairman of CNESA, outlined trends in technology and industrial development — from pumped storage to battery-dominated systems — and highlighted growing diversification (e.g., sodium-ion and flow batteries) and enhanced safety standards.
Mr. Chen Xiang, Senior VP of EVE Energy, noted that global markets show significant diversity in development stages and demand structures. He emphasized localization, long-duration storage innovation, and multi-technology approaches (solid-state, sodium-ion, etc.) to support a clean, resilient global energy system.
The Parallel Forum on New Energy Storage at the 8th Hongqiao International Economic Forum served as a vital platform for global dialogue and collaboration.
Participants exchanged insights on technological innovation, market mechanisms, and international cooperation, forming broad consensus on the future of the energy storage industry.
As one of the key achievements of this year’s Hongqiao Forum, the event will inject strong momentum into optimizing the global energy structure and advancing sustainable development and carbon neutrality worldwide.
CENSA Upcoming Events:
1. Dec.4-5 | 2025 China Energy Storage CEO Summit | Xiamen, Fujian
Register Now to attend
Read more: http://en.cnesa.org/new-events-1/2025/12/4/dec4-5-2025-china-energy-storage-ceo-summit
2. Apr. 1-3, 2026 | The 14th Energy Storage International Conference & Expo
Register Now to attend, free before Oct 31, 2025.
