At a factory in southeastern China, robot arms spin balletically, winding long strips of metal into rolls and shaping them into bricks that are destined to become batteries.
As workers in white coveralls watch, the nascent batteries are packaged into aluminum cases and, as workers put it, “given life” — endowed with an electrical charge that will eventually power cars and data centers across the world.
The site, owned by Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd., or CATL, is the world’s largest cluster of battery factories, and the most advanced. Inside its walls, the dynamic between the United States and China is changing.
For decades, American companies maintained a huge technological lead over their Chinese competitors. U.S. firms came to China to manufacture their goods more cheaply. As a price of entry, the Chinese government forced foreign companies into partnerships where Chinese firms could learn from them and absorb their more advanced technology.
In at least a few sectors, that equation has flipped, with China racing ahead of the United States. From batteries and solar panels to rare earths and life sciences, China is developing some of the world’s most advanced technologies, and it is rapidly deploying plans to corner other markets.
CATL is indicative of that shift. It has unveiled a battery that, according to the company, can power an electric vehicle for 250 miles with less than 10 minutes of charging — about three times the charging speed of batteries typically found in other electric vehicles. CATL’s battery technology is powering millions of cheap electric vehicles that China is exporting around the world.
