On December 15, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a solicitation for opinions on the "Administrative Measures for the Comprehensive Utilization of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)," with the feedback period running from December 15, 2023, to January 15, 2024. The document outlines regulatory requirements for both new energy vehicle manufacturers and battery producers on managing batteries they install and produce, with key points as follows:

Responsibility Identification:

l  Automotive manufacturers are responsible for the recycling of installed power batteries;

l  Battery manufacturers bear the responsibility for the direct sale of power batteries to the market (such as battery leasing and operational entities).

Obligation of Battery Coding:

l  Battery manufacturers should use non-toxic or low-toxic materials, adopt standardized, universal, and easily disassembled product structure designs.

l  They must encode the produced power batteries according to the " GB/T34014 Coding regulation for automotive traction battery and provide disassembly technical information to automotive manufacturers.

Obligation of Battery Take-back:

l  Automotive manufacturers should establish, either independently or by delegation, collection service points in administrative regions at the prefectural level and above, matching the sales volume of their new energy vehicles.

l  Battery manufacturers should establish, either independently or by delegation, concentrated storage service points in provincial administrative regions where the power batteries are directly sold, matching the sales volume.

l  The construction of these service points should comply with the requirements of the " GB/T38698.2 Recovery of traction battery used in electric vehicle—Management specification—Part 2：Take-back service network".

Obligation of Information Reporting:

l  Automotive manufacturers should, within six months after the new energy vehicles they produced being granted the “admission of road motor vehicle products” (i.e., MIIT Vehicle Public Announcement) or after the new energy vehicles they imported obtaining CCC certificates, submit technical information such as power battery disassembly, dismantling, and control system communication protocols，to the "National Monitoring and Comprehensive Management Platform for New Energy Vehicles and Power Battery Recycling Traceability."

l  Automotive manufacturers should provide power battery disassembly technical information to enterprises for the recycling and dismantling of scrap motor vehicles.

l  Automotive manufacturers should upload production traceability information to the national platform within 10 working days after the issuance of the factory certificate to their new energy vehicles, or within 10 working days after customs clearance for their imported new energy vehicles.

l  Automotive manufacturers should also upload sales traceability information within 10 working days after vehicle registration, and upload retirement information within 10 working days after the disposal of old power batteries generated during the research and development, production, and installation processes.

l  Battery manufacturers shall upload warehouse entry information to the national platform within 10 working days after receiving returned power batteries for repair, and upload retirement information within 10 working days after the disposal of old and waste power batteries generated during the research and development, production, and repair processes.