The promise of a "60 day payment term" is extending from vehicle manufacturers to the power battery industry chain. On June 29th, the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance jointly released the "Proposal for Payment Standards for Power and Energy Storage Battery Enterprise Suppliers", requiring relevant enterprises to implement the "Regulations on Ensuring Payment for Small and Medium sized Enterprises" and not to use the advantageous position of large enterprises to harm the interests of suppliers.

The proposal is clear that if the supplier is a small and medium-sized enterprise, the payment period shall be calculated from the date of delivery or acceptance, and shall not exceed 60 natural days at most; If the supplier is not a small or medium-sized enterprise, after mutual consultation, monthly centralized reconciliation can be conducted, and the accounting period shall be calculated from the reconciliation date.

In the delivery acceptance stage, the acceptance of materials and components should generally not exceed 7 working days, and a certificate of qualification should be issued immediately after the acceptance is completed. Encourage the use of cash (bank transfer, wire transfer, etc.) as a payment method; The use of bank acceptance bills must be clearly stipulated in the contract, and the proportion of commercial acceptance, electronic payment vouchers, and other tools should be gradually reduced. Advocate for all small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers to use cash payment.

On the day of the initiative's release, CATL, Xinwangda, China Innovation Aviation, Freddie Battery, and EVE Energy successively responded with statements. Ningde Times stated that the healthy and stable industrial chain is the foundation of high-quality development in the industry. Maintaining a fair and honest market environment and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of suppliers are the company's unshirkable responsibilities. We promise to resolutely implement the spirit of the initiative and jointly build an industry ecology of integrity, compliance, coexistence, and win-win. Xinwangda Power, Zhongchuang Chuanghang, and Fudi Battery have all stated that they will implement the initiative requirements in key stages such as order confirmation, delivery and acceptance, payment and settlement, and contract terms to effectively protect the rights and interests of suppliers; EVE Energy stated that it will continue to optimize its supply chain account management and maintain a healthy and orderly market environment.

The Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has clearly expressed its support for the initiative and revealed that 11 key battery companies in the industry have responded, simultaneously launching supporting management measures that can be implemented and implemented for a long time, demonstrating and driving the standardized development of the entire industry chain.

This battery industry credit term initiative is a continuation of the "60 day credit term" reform in the automotive industry. In June 2025, 17 Chinese car companies including FAW, Dongfeng Motor, GAC, SAIC, Geely, Changan, BYD, Chery, and Xiaopeng Motors actively responded to and implemented the "Regulations on Ensuring Payment for Small and Medium sized Enterprises", and successively made public commitments that "the payment period for suppliers shall not exceed 60 days". Subsequently, in September 2025, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released the "Initiative for Standardization of Payment Standards for Automotive Vehicle Suppliers".

From the perspective of implementation effectiveness, a research report released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers in February 2026 showed that the vast majority of key car companies among the 17 have compressed the average payment period for supplier payments to within 60 days, with an average payment period of about 54 days, which is about 10 days shorter than the same period in 2025. In terms of payment methods, all 15 companies use cash or bank acceptance bills, 2 companies use electronic accounts payable vouchers and promise to gradually cancel them, 5 companies have a cash payment ratio of over 50%, and 2 companies have a ratio of over 70%.

However, the progress of reform has not been smooth sailing. Statistics show that as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, the total accounts payable and bills of 18 listed passenger car companies reached 1.0344 trillion yuan, a decrease from the end of last year. However, the industry average payment turnover days increased to 216.68 days, an increase of 27 days from the end of last year. The research conducted by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers also pointed out that some car companies still have some problems in supplier payment: the starting point of the payment period includes different methods such as goods delivery acceptance, centralized reconciliation, invoice receipt, and loading verification. Although the nominal payment period is 60 days, there is a significant difference in the actual time from delivery to receipt of payment by suppliers, which may indirectly extend the payment period; A few companies request suppliers to lower product prices or accept other unreasonable terms under the pretext of shortening payment terms.

The issue of payment terms in the battery industry is equally prominent, even more severe than that of automotive companies. Taking Ningde Times as an example, as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, its accounts payable amounted to 180.6 billion yuan, and its notes payable amounted to 119.8 billion yuan, totaling over 300 billion yuan. In 2025, its accounts payable turnover days will be 168 days, and the total payment cycle corresponding to accounts payable and notes payable will reach 308 days, indicating a strong ability to occupy upstream funds. The accounts payable cycle of other power battery companies is also high. Previous statistics showed that the accounts payable cycle of EVE Energy in 2024 is 265 days, Funeng Technology is 273 days, Guoxuan High tech is 282 days, Zhongchuang Chuanghang is 282 days, and Penghui Energy is 283 days.

The initiative released by the two major industry alliances this time is launched against the aforementioned background. The relevant person in charge of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the entire vehicle industry has previously fully implemented a 60 day credit period self-discipline commitment. This time, the power battery and energy storage industries have simultaneously issued unified standards, forming a closed loop of account management that connects the upstream and downstream of the vehicle battery material equipment. This is a key step in implementing policies to ensure payment for small and medium-sized enterprises and optimizing the business environment of the new energy industry chain.

With leading companies such as CATL, Xinwangda, Zhongchuang Chuanghang, and Fudi Battery taking the lead in response, more battery and energy storage companies may follow suit in the future, and the payment ecology of the upstream and downstream of the industry chain is expected to see systematic improvement. However, from the practice of previous vehicle companies, it can be seen that the initiative still needs to overcome many practical challenges such as acceptance cycles and payment methods from release to full implementation.