Chinese battery giant CATL, which soared on its Hong Kong debut Tuesday, is a domestic success story with a risk-taking founder and global ambitions — but has found itself in the crossfire of a superpower clash for tech dominance.CATL — whose shares are already traded in Shenzhen — raised more than US$4.6 billion from its Hong Kong initial public offering, the world’s largest so far this year.The company produced more than a third of all EV batteries sold worldwide in 2023, working with many major automotive brands including Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.Its batteries offer some of the fastest charging speeds in the world — this year, the firm said its Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery can add 520 kilometres (323 miles) of driving range after just five minutes of charging and withstand freezing temperatures.That’s 30 percent faster than main competitor BYD’s Super-e platform, which claims to deliver around 400 kilometres of range in five minutes.Founded in 2011, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited’s success has been buoyed by strong policy support from Beijing, which has poured billions into clean energy in the past decade and pushed to ensure self-reliance in high-tech sectors viewed as strategically vital.Its cheap, ultra-fast batteries have also been cited as a key driver behind the rapid rise of the Chinese EV market, which is now the world’s largest.It has also weathered a brutal price war between giants in the sector, with sales taking a hit as broader consumption in the country slumps.- Powerhouse -Billionaire CEO and founder Robin Zeng — once dubbed China’s “battery king” — is the country’s fifth richest person and the world’s 45th wealthiest, according to Bloomberg.The firm’s name in Chinese pays tribute to his hometown, the coastal eastern city of Ningde.On his blog Interconnected, tech writer and investor Kevin Xu described Zeng’s story as “classically rags to riches” in which he turned his “backwater town to a battery powerhouse”.He describes Zeng as a risk-taker and a “gambler” who has deftly charted the firm through regulatory uncertainty and fierce competition from domestic rivals.But CATL has also found itself at the centre of a struggle between the United States and China for tech dominance.The superpowers are fighting for the upper hand in developing advanced technologies critical to the functioning of the modern economy, including batteries, computer chips and artificial intelligence.CATL’s plans for a collaboration with car giant Ford on a US$3.5 billion plant in Marshall, Michigan, drew national security concerns last year.And in January, the United States defence department released a list that designated CATL as a “Chinese military company”.The firm has denied engaging in military activities, and Beijing has denounced the move as “suppression”.Proceeds from the firm’s IPO could be used to ramp up its plans for overseas expansion — particularly in Europe.It is currently constructing its second factory on the continent in Hungary after opening its first in Germany in January 2023.- ‘Thrive under pressure’ -And the firm said in December that it would work with Stellantis — which also owns the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and RAM truck brands — to make EV batteries in Spain, with production slated to begin by the end of 2026.It has even signed deals as far afield as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it signed an agreement in 2021 with one of the world’s largest cobalt producers to develop a mine.And in Bolivia, its subsidiary CBC signed a US$1 billion deal last year to build two lithium carbonate production plants in the country’s southwest.CATL is aiming to pre-empt shifting trends in the EV sector, launching last month a sodium-ion battery, viewed as a cheaper and safer alternative to the lithium-ion batteries that are widely used in both electronics and EVs but pose a fire risk if damaged.”CATL became CATL because the government helped, but not so much that it became lazy,” investor Xu wrote.”Competition… also helped, battle-testing its technology and supply chain, but not before it got a leg up from the protectionist subsidies first,” Xu said.”Most intriguingly, it got an innate but prodigious gambler at the helm, who was born too poor to ever feel loss aversion… astute enough to read government policy tea leaves and paranoid enough to always thrive, not die, under pressure.”

Shares in Chinese battery giant CATL soared more than 18 percent on its Hong Kong debut Tuesday after raising US$4.6 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering this year.A global leader in the sector, CATL produces more than a third of all electric vehicle (EV) batteries sold worldwide.The firm has been buoyed by a rapid growth in China’s domestic electric vehicle sector and it now works with major brands including Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.However, it has also found itself in the crossfire of a superpower clash between Washington and Beijing for tech dominance, with Washington putting it on a blacklist naming it as a military company.The firm is already traded in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and its plan for a secondary listing in Hong Kong was announced in December.In morning trading its Hong Kong shares hit a high of HK$311.40 (US$39.92), up 18.4 percent from its listing price of HK$263.00.”This listing signifies our deeper integration into the global capital markets and marks a new milestone in our mission to drive the global zero-carbon economy,” CATL’s founder and chairman Robin Zeng said at the firm’s listing ceremony on Tuesday.The raised funds could be used to accelerate its overseas expansion, including building its second European factory in Hungary after launching its first in Germany in January 2023.The strong interest in the company’s shares come even as it comes under the spotlight in the United States.In a list issued in January by the Defense Department, CATL was designated as a “Chinese military company”.The US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party highlighted this inclusion in letters to two Wall Street banks in April, urging them to withdraw from the IPO deal over its alleged links to the military.But the banks — JPMorgan and Bank of America — remain onboard.- Hong Kong IPO goal -Beijing has denounced the list as “suppression”, while CATL denied engaging “in any military related activities”.CATL also said in May filings it was “proactively engaging” with the US defence department to “address the false designation”.Founded in 2011 in the eastern Chinese city of Ningde, the company has been given strong financial support from Beijing, which has sought in recent years to shore up domestic strength in certain strategic high-tech sectors.It has also weathered a fierce price war in China’s expansive EV sector that has put smaller firms under huge pressure to compete while remaining financially viable.Tuesday’s blockbuster listing is also a boon for Hong Kong’s stock exchange, which is eager for the return of big-name Chinese listings as it looks to regain its crown as the world’s top venue for IPOs.The Chinese finance hub saw a steady decline in new offerings after Beijing’s regulatory crackdown starting in 2020 led some mainland mega-companies to put their plans on hold, while a strict security law added to the uncertainty for companies looking to list.Data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shows it is processing dozens of applications from Chinese companies this year.Analysts said Tuesday’s IPO showcases Hong Kong’s role as a place for Chinese companies to raise capital.”We are also seeing a rising demand on portfolio diversification away from US dollar-denominated assets, underscored by the recent strength in the Hong Kong dollar,” Jason Lui, head of APAC equity and derivative strategy at BNP Paribas, told AFP.