Surged 865 times! Luoyang's lithium battery industry makes a comeback, returning to the "No.1 City" title

Summary:

" Can "Made in Luoyang" batteries, with strong production and sales, firmly hold the throne of the "No.1 City"?

Luoyang has experienced glory and downturns but has never been silent. Whenever the "east wind" blows, this ancient capital of thirteen dynasties rejuvenates.

 

2025 In the first half of the year, Luoyang achieved a regional GDP of 292.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 5.7%, surpassing Yichang (286.65 billion yuan) and Xiangyang (285.96 billion yuan), reclaiming the title of "No.1 city among non-provincial capitals in central China," and is just one step away from the top 50 cities (the 50th city, Zhenjiang, has 292.68 billion yuan).

 

2004-2021 For 18 years, Luoyang held the top spot among "double non" cities (neither municipalities nor provincial capitals) in central and western China.

 

2022 In 2021, Luoyang's GDP was surpassed by Yulin in Shaanxi and Xiangyang in Hubei, losing both the "No.1 double non city in central and western China" and the "No.1 non-provincial capital city in central China" titles. In 2023, Yichang unexpectedly rose to the top.

 

Global Zero Carbon Mapping

 

The key to Luoyang's impressive economic performance in the first half of this year lies in industry: compared to the primary and tertiary industries' value-added growth of 2.7% and 5.0% respectively, the secondary industry grew by 6.8%, exceeding the national and provincial averages by 1.5 and 0.8 percentage points; the value-added of large-scale industries grew by 8.8%, surpassing national and provincial averages by 2.4 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

 

Among them, the new energy vehicle industry grew by 24.5%, and lithium-ion battery production increased by 865.7 times year-on-year.

 

Luoyang's lithium battery industry has maintained rapid growth over the past two years. In 2024, Luoyang's lithium-ion battery production reached 8.674 million units, a 4301.3% increase compared to 2023.

 

Source: Luoyang Statistics Bureau

 

Luoyang has established a solid foundation in the new energy battery industry, gathering more than 20 key upstream and downstream enterprises, covering lithium batteries, fuel cells, battery materials, and power battery applications. Last year, the industry scale reached 16 billion yuan. It is expected that by 2025, the scale of Luoyang's new energy battery industry will reach 200 billion yuan.

 

The remarkable performance of Luoyang's lithium-ion batteries is mainly due to the collective support of companies like CATL, CALB, and CIMC Lingyu.

 

As one of CATL's thirteen global production bases, Luoyang is writing the "Luoyang speed" of new energy battery industry development with a "four-arrow simultaneous" construction pattern: Phase one is fully operational at full capacity with a cumulative output value exceeding 10 billion yuan; phase two equipment is being installed and debugged, expected to start production in the fourth quarter of this year; phases three and four are being worked on day and night.

 

Two years ago, Luoyang lamented missing out on CALB and wrote a reflective article titled "Lessons from CALB's Reform and Development Experience for Our City's Development of 'Windfall' Industries"; now, relying on companies like CATL, Luoyang has made a comeback, with "Made in Luoyang" batteries thriving in production and sales. Can it firmly hold the "No.1 City" throne?

 

 

01

Luoyang's "Era"

 

" "One Luoyang city, half of Chinese history." As an ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, Luoyang is unmatched in historical depth and cultural brilliance.

 

Since the founding of New China, with changing times and industrial shifts, Luoyang's economic development has experienced ups and downs, observable through three windows:

 

The first is the halo of the old industrial base.

 

" During the First Five-Year Plan period, 7 of the nation's 156 key projects were located in Luoyang. Luoyang created many firsts: the first tracked tractor, the first diesel engine for ships, the first float glass production line... Luoyang manufacturing became famous nationwide and renowned worldwide, forming an industrial system supported by equipment, materials, and petrochemicals.

 

However, the proud heavy industry later became a heavy burden for Luoyang's industrial transformation.

 

The second is the "departure" of CALB.

 

2009 In 2011, when China's new energy vehicle industry was just starting, China Aviation Industry Corporation and China Air-to-Air Missile Research Institute established CALB in Luoyang. With CALB's rapid development, Luoyang became an important national power battery base. But starting in 2017, with major adjustments to national subsidies for new energy vehicles, CALB fell into losses, was taken over by the Changzhou municipal government, and left Luoyang, staging a comeback elsewhere.

 

 

 

Missing out on CALB meant Luoyang lost the chip for developing a windfall industry, and its economic development fell into a slump.

 

The third is the resurgence in 2025.

 

CATL, CALB, and CIMC Lingyu are the "three driving forces" of Luoyang's new energy vehicle industry, all performing well this year:

 

CATL's Zhongzhou Times New Energy Production Base, invested in September 2022, has built 3 cell production lines and 10 PACK production lines since starting production in July 2024, becoming the core power source for popular models like Xiaomi, with a cumulative output value exceeding 10 billion yuan;

 

CALB's cumulative output value in the first five months reached 940 million yuan, a 55% year-on-year increase; operating income was 1.09 billion yuan, up 31% year-on-year;

 

With the rapid development of new energy heavy trucks (see "29 consecutive months of growth! Electric heavy trucks soaring, is there still a future for fuel vehicles?"), CIMC Lingyu's new energy mixer truck sales in the first half of this year nearly matched last year's total, maintaining a top three market share domestically.

 

5 In May, the General Secretary inspected Luoyang, pointing the way for Luoyang to develop advanced manufacturing and strengthen independent innovation. The subsequent 8th plenary session of the 12th Luoyang Municipal Committee emphasized accelerating the reshaping of Luoyang's industrial pattern and actively integrating into the new energy vehicle and other windfall industry tracks.

 

The bright prospects of Luoyang's lithium battery revival and the rise of windfall industries are accelerating into reality.

 

 

02

Will there be any "slip-ups" in the second half?

 

2025 In the first half of the year, Luoyang's breakout was reflected not only in scale but also in its urban status.

 

The latest "2025 New First-Tier City Charm Ranking" by Yicai elevated Luoyang to a second-tier city, alongside many provincial capitals and developed eastern cities, further solidifying Luoyang's status as the "No.1 non-provincial capital city in central China."

 

Source: Yicai

 

But the old problem of surging in the first half and slowing down in the second half has always plagued Luoyang.

 

Since 2022, Luoyang's GDP led Xiangyang and Yichang in the first half of the year, but was surpassed by the two cities in the second half, reflecting the awkwardness of Luoyang's lack of economic development momentum.

 

Taking 2024 as an example, in the first half of the year, Luoyang's GDP led Xiangyang and Yichang by about 13 billion yuan and 25 billion yuan respectively, but for the whole year it lagged behind by 28.3 billion yuan and 37.2 billion yuan, truly proving the old saying "winning early doesn't count as winning, winning later is the real victory."

 

 

This is not unrelated to Luoyang's industrial structure.

 

Affected by seasons, markets, policies, and other factors, many industries usually show alternating "off-season and peak-season" characteristics. For example, the peak season for agricultural machinery sales is mainly concentrated in the spring plowing preparation period (February to March) and the wheat harvest period (April to May), driving production to full capacity; the peak season for new energy vehicle sales is generally concentrated in the second half of the year, known as "Golden September and Silver October," during which power battery companies schedule production in advance and increase output.

 

The agricultural machinery equipment industry is currently Luoyang's pillar industry, while new energy vehicles and power batteries are key "new growth points" that Luoyang is focusing on developing, thereby mitigating the impact of industrial cycles to some extent.

 

03

" "Zheng-Luo Collaboration"

 

In past years, under Henan's "Strong Provincial Capital" strategy and Zhengzhou's "Eastward Development" pattern, Luoyang, as a sub-central city of the province and located west of Zhengzhou, was somewhat neglected.

 

Since the beginning of this year, "Zheng-Luo Collaboration" has been frequently mentioned:

 

First, on February 5, the Henan Provincial Government Work Report proposed "focusing on new energy storage, hydrogen energy, etc., accelerating the construction of the Zhengbianlu P hydrogen corridor and the Zheng-Luo-Xin lithium battery industrial belt, cultivating and expanding the future energy industry."

 

Then, on July 10, the Zhengzhou Party and government inspection team visited Luoyang for inspection and exchange, with leaders from both places mentioning "deepening pragmatic cooperation and promoting coordinated development."

 

Shortly after, on August 2, Henan Governor Wang Kai emphasized during his research visit to Luoyang that efforts should be made to support the promotion of Zheng-Luo collaboration and accelerate the construction of the Zhengzhou metropolitan area.

 

This is also the first time since 2020, when Henan proposed "deepening Zheng-Luo collaboration" in the "Several Opinions on Supporting Luoyang to Accelerate the Construction of a Sub-Central City in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration Led by Openness," that "Zheng-Luo Collaboration" has been intensively highlighted again.

 

As the top two economic cities in Henan Province, the partnership between Zhengzhou and Luoyang is necessary for Henan to excel in the central rise strategy and is also essential for "revitalizing Luoyang."

 

On one hand, "Zheng-Luo Collaboration" can enhance Luoyang's urban status, providing more opportunities to receive supportive policies from the province and high-quality resources from the provincial capital; on the other hand, it can promote chain development and cluster development through industrial division of labor and cooperation, improving industrial capacity.

 

The new energy vehicle industry is undoubtedly an excellent breakthrough point for "Zheng-Luo Collaboration."

 

In 2024, Zhengzhou's new energy vehicle production reached 625,800 units, more than 13 times the 46,700 units in 2021, entering the top 10 cities nationwide in new energy vehicle production.

 

Although Luoyang's new energy vehicle assembly is not prominent, its raw materials (copper, aluminum, cobalt) and components (bearings, lithium batteries) industries are well developed, which can form a tiered division of labor of "assembly and components" with Zhengzhou, as well as a complementary chain of "R&D - manufacturing - application."

 

For Luoyang to "regain its former glory," it must both diligently cultivate internal strength by leading industrial upgrading through technological innovation and stimulating vitality through deepening reforms, and wisely leverage external forces by attracting leading enterprises to build and strengthen industrial chains and promote collaborative mutual benefits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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References:

 

[1] The Paper. Cumulative output value exceeds 10 billion yuan! New news from CATL's Luoyang base. 2025-08-08.

 

[2] Global Zero Carbon: Missing out on Zhongchuang Xinhang, Henan's lithium battery industry makes a comeback. Can it seize the opportunity this time? 2024-11-11.

 

[3] Xinhua Net. You must visit Luoyang at least once! 2025-05-20.

 

[4] Luoyang Daily. "Made in Luoyang" new energy batteries increase production and enhance intelligence. 2025-07-09.

 

[5] Urban Evolution Theory. At a critical moment, this central province seeks to "band together" to break through. 2025-08-04.