From September 21 to 22, the Sodium-Ion Battery Industry Chain and Standards Development Forum was held in Zigong, Sichuan Province, under the theme "Salt City Gathers, Sodium Powers." It was hosted by the China Electronic Standardsization Institute (CESI) and the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), and organized by Zigong Gaoxin State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Group. According to CNESA's September 22 release, a series of signings took place at the forum under the "Industrial Supply-Demand: Industry-Chain Strengthening Action" and "Scenario Supply-Demand: Multi-Scenario Lighting-Up Action" frameworks, with 22 companies across the industry chain signing agreements totaling over RMB 6 billion. Per the organizing committee's agenda, the signing ceremony took place on the morning of September 22 during the main forum, alongside the release of key sodium-ion battery test results.
The signings cover three tiers. On industrial supply and demand: JNION Energy, EVE Energy, Chaowei Group, Highstar Das Sodium (Haisida Naxing), Xingchu Energy, Weike Battery, Yuheng Battery, Chuanyi Sodium and Namei New Energy signed a "300,000-tonne, RMB 6 billion / three-year strategic supply agreement for sodium-ion cathode materials"; Rongna New Energy, Chaowei Group, Xingchu Century, Zhaorui New Energy and Fushun Chenguang Park Industrial Investment Development Group signed "10,000 t/y hard-carbon anode purchase agreements" and a "50,000 t/y hard-carbon anode raw material purchase agreement"; Xingchu Century, Shanghai Aerospace Power Technology, Saiwei Electronics, Xibei Power and Sida Lüdao signed a "200MWh sodium-ion cell supply agreement" and a "sodium storage and liquid-cooling ultra-fast-charging strategic cooperation agreement." On scenario supply and demand: Xibei Power, Xingchu Century, the Sichuan Humanoid Multimodal Data Collection and Testing Center, Zigong Gengu Longteng Technology, Zigong Hualong Technology, Zigong Bus Group and Zigong Gaoxin Integrated Energy signed intent agreements covering "10,000 humanoid robots, 1,000 intelligent robotic dinosaurs, 100 autonomous vehicles and 10 energy storage stations" under a "switch-to-sodium, go-green" program.
The forum also released the first list of sodium-ion cells passing nail-penetration tests: 16 products from 13 companies — including JNION, Xibei Power, EVE Energy, Huana Xineng, Hanxing Technology, Huayu Nadian, Anqing Chaoren Energy, Pangu New Energy, Puna Energy, Zhaorui New Energy, Highstar Das Sodium, Huangguan Energy Storage and Nashu New Energy — passed under the national standard Technical Specification for Safety of Sodium-Ion Cells and Batteries for Electrical Energy Storage Systems, tested by the MIIT Key Laboratory of Green Battery Evaluation and Analysis operated by CESI.