China has eliminated its list of “recommended battery suppliers,” according to the industry ministry. Foreign battery-makers hope this will open up the country’s market for EV batteries.

When the list was first published in 2015, it included only Chinese firms, a policy designed to aid China’s domestic battery sector. Foreign battery-builders complained that the list discouraged competition, and was linked to government subsidies for recommended domestic firms such as Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and BYD.

More recently, South Korean battery giants LG Chem and Samsung SDI have been investing substantial sums in China, in expectation that the policy would eventually change.

 “We are relieved that these lists are going away, but we cannot be certain if the Chinese government is committed to abolish subsidies until they actually remove all subsidy policies,” an unnamed official at a foreign battery maker told Reuters.

Source: Reuters