Since the environmental lead- crisis in 2011, China’s lead-acid battery industry has been rectifying extensively on its environmental work. This has benefited the industry’s gradual consolidation through eliminating the weak and small players. According to recent statistics, large scale industry leaders have emerged from strength to strength on the back of the shutdown of unqualified small enterprises. The number of lead-acid battery factories was reduced from 2,000 to nearly 1,000 after waves of rectification. Meanwhile, those surviving companies have managed to nearly double their production capacity.

Due to global economic downturn, the growth rate of the electric bicycle industry, which offers the largest market to China’s lead-acid battery industry, has been slowing down. According to China Bicycle Association, the production volume of electric bicycle in China in 2012 is forecasted to remain at 30 million units, representing a growth rate of 4%. In reality, industry practitioners believe that the electric bicycle industry is now suffering from a downtrend in tandem with the weakening economy. However, each electric bicycle on average needs to replace a battery every year. Therefore, the slowdown of the electric bicycle industry is expected to pose only minimal impact on the lead-acid battery manufacturers.