Several industry giants are crossing over into the new-energy sector, positioning themselves upstream as “shovel sellers.”

According to the latest reports, in May 2026, Zhong Shanshan, through his subsidiary Yangshengtang Co., Ltd., invested approximately RMB 500 million in a strategic stake in Solid-State. Battery Materials Zhejiang Zhibang Enterprise Lithium battery , holding approximately 10% of the shares and focusing squarely on electrolyte materials at the very upstream end of the industry chain.

This marks Zhong Shanshan’s first foray into the new-energy sector. The businessman, who topped Forbes China’s Rich List for five consecutive years and now boasts a net worth of $68.1 billion, had never ventured into this field before. Power battery The track. From selling water to developing vaccines and now investing in solid-state electrolytes, Zhong Shanshan’s cross‑industry strategy has remained consistent: he seeks niche segments with high technological barriers, light asset bases, and no established oligopolies yet. Yet as solid‑state batteries are hailed as the “ultimate path” for power‑train applications, the market has already become fiercely crowded. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited 、 BYD Heavy investment is pouring into battery‑cell manufacturing, with GWh‑scale production lines often requiring investments exceeding 100 million yuan. Yet Nongfu Spring’s founder, Zhong Shanshan, has deliberately steered clear of this fiercely competitive red ocean.

Research has found that Jack Ma is investing. Energy storage Wuliangye is expanding into photovoltaics, while New Hope is also making intensive moves in the sector. Companies in the water‑selling, liquor‑brewing, and pig‑farming industries are all seeking their place in the new‑energy space.

       01｜ We don’t make battery cells; we focus solely on the indispensable link that no one can bypass.

Zhong Shanshan’s 500-million-yuan investment was strategically well‑timed and targeted.

Zhibang Lithium Battery was established only in March 2024, with its R&D center and production base both located in Quzhou, Zhejiang. A significant portion of its core team comes from Ganfeng Lithium Battery. The company’s chairman, Ding Li, and its actual controller, Xu Xiaoxiong, both previously held positions at Ganfeng Lithium Battery, a leading domestic player in the solid-state battery sector. Xu Xiaoxiong indirectly holds approximately 28.57% of Zhibang Lithium Battery’s shares and oversees the company’s technological strategy, while another key figure, Zhang Yongxiang, brings a background in the investment community and, through direct and indirect holdings, controls about 11.47% of the company, responsible for capital‑related operations.

Zhibang Lithium Battery has focused its strategy on solid-state electrolyte materials, covering three technological pathways: oxides, polymers, and sulfides. This level of restraint is relatively rare in the industry. In the solid-state battery sector, companies like Qingtao Energy, Weilan New Energy, and CATL are all expanding downstream, with battery cells serving as their primary battleground. By contrast, Zhibang Lithium Battery has zeroed in on solid-state electrolyte materials—a critical link that no one wants to tackle yet no one can afford to bypass.

Zhong Shanshan clearly places greater emphasis not on the company’s current size, but on the technical team and process expertise it has inherited from Ganfeng Lithium Battery. Even more noteworthy is that Quzhou State‑Owned Assets is the second-largest investor in Zhibang Lithium Battery. The fact that a company established less than two years ago has managed to secure funding from both the former richest man and state‑owned capital underscores the strategic importance of solid‑state electrolyte materials—they are not merely a commercial venture, but also a key component of local governments’ efforts to bolster the new‑energy industry chain.

       02｜ If the price of lithium sulfide does not fall, solid-state batteries will lack commercial viability.

The solid-state electrolyte market that Zhong Shanshan has chosen is at a critical juncture where “price determines survival.”

On May 17, at Gotion High‑Tech’s Technology Conference, Senior Director Pan Ruijun presented a set of figures: for a sulfide‑based solid‑state battery, 70% to 80% of the cost is attributable to the electrolyte, and within that, 70% to 80% of the electrolyte cost stems from lithium sulfide. By extension, the price of lithium sulfide essentially sets the upper limit on the cost of solid‑state batteries. Pan Ruijun identified a quantitative threshold: only when the price of lithium sulfide falls to RMB 500,000 per ton and the cost of the solid‑state electrolyte drops to RMB 300,000 per ton can solid‑state batteries reach the commercial break‑even point of RMB 1 per watt‑hour.

On Zhibang Lithium Battery’s official WeChat account, only two articles have been published so far, with the most recent one dating back to late last year. The article also notes that solid-state electrolytes still have a long way to go: while they hold promise for high‑safety, high‑energy‑density batteries, they face the challenges of transitioning from laboratory‑scale breakthroughs to commercially viable products.

Solid-state electrolytes are still some way from large-scale commercialization, but the technological pathways are converging, and industry standards are beginning to take shape. According to Yujian Energy’s analysis, this is precisely the rationale behind Zhong Shanshan’s decision to enter the market at this juncture. In April, Zhibang Lithium Battery publicly disclosed a patent for a high‑performance solid-state electrolyte and participated in drafting the industry standard “Test Method for Air Stability of Sulfide Solid Electrolytes.” By investing during this window—when the technology remains unsettled and no single player has yet achieved monopoly—one can secure an irreplaceable position within the supply chain by the time the next major growth opportunity arrives.

       03｜ Jack Ma enters the energy-storage sector, Wuliangye expands into solar power—cross-industry players are staking out their own turf.

Zhong Shanshan is far from an isolated case. A growing cohort of outstanding companies and entrepreneurs from non‑energy sectors are leveraging their respective strengths to enter the new‑energy space, vying for position across diverse segments within this burgeoning industry.
In early 2026, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, officially entered the dual-carbon sector, focusing on energy storage, wind power, and photovoltaics. Rather than venturing into battery manufacturing, he leveraged his Yunfeng Fund to invest in the energy-storage company Weiheng Intelligence. Founded by Fudan University professor Sun Yaojie, the company has filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a valuation reaching RMB 2.7 billion. Drawing on his background in the internet industry, Ma is using capital to drive technology‑driven firms, securing a foothold in the energy-storage space—a field that is closer to real-world applications and relatively asset-light—well ahead of the curve.

Meanwhile, Wuliangye, a leading baijiu producer with revenues exceeding RMB 40 billion in 2025, has been making intensive moves into the new‑energy sector since 2023. In April 2023, it established Sichuan Wuliangye New Energy Investment Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of RMB 1 billion; in August of the same year, it teamed up with PetroChina to set up a joint venture whose business scope encompasses photovoltaic power generation, energy storage, and hydrogen‑refueling infrastructure. In February 2025, Wuliangye again joined forces with Longi Green Energy, Yingfa Deyao, and others to establish another joint venture, focusing on high‑efficiency HPBC solar cells. By October of that year, Wuliangye had begun constructing an energy‑storage power station within its own industrial park. Entering the photovoltaic and energy‑storage sectors—fields far removed from its core baijiu business—is a bold move, but one made possible by Wuliangye’s unparalleled financial resources. With its own industrial parks, manufacturing facilities, and steady electricity demand, energy storage and photovoltaics represent a natural extension of its existing operational context.

Even the agricultural giant New Hope Group has quietly entered the fray. Its subsidiary, Zhejiang Xinzhi New Energy Co., Ltd., which is controlled by Xingyuan Environment, focuses on leasing photovoltaic power-generation equipment and manufacturing related components. As a leading agribusiness whose core operations revolve around animal feed and pig farming, this company has ample confidence to venture into the photovoltaic sector. In its cooperation plan with State Power Investment Corporation, it outlines a strategy to deploy “agri‑solar complementary PV systems, centered on large-scale livestock farms and slaughterhouses across various regions.”

It is readily apparent that cross-industry entrants into the new‑energy sector follow a common strategic logic. In particular, major consumer‑goods companies—leveraging their decades‑long expertise in high‑end manufacturing, raw‑material procurement, and supply‑chain management—have established a solid foundation for entering fast‑growing fields like new energy, while benefiting from ample cash reserves and well‑established access to financing.

The strategic choices of these cross-industry entrants reveal a clear pattern: almost all of them are staking out territory upstream. Baijiu producers aren’t vying with CATL for battery‑cell production lines; feed manufacturers aren’t building power‑battery factories; and internet firms aren’t constructing GWh‑scale plants. Wuliangye is developing energy storage and photovoltaic projects around its own industrial park, New Hope is leveraging its agri‑food resources to generate solar power, Jack Ma is channeling funds into energy‑storage technology startups, and Zhong Shanshan is betting on solid‑state electrolyte materials, drawing on the R&D DNA of his health‑care empire. Each is seeking the entry point that best aligns with its core competencies. Though their paths differ, the underlying logic is consistent: focus on the upstream segment, provide supporting services, or offer ancillary solutions. By targeting upstream materials, Zhong Shanshan is seizing nascent, still‑unfirmed niches during periods of technological vacuum.

Moreover, the former richest man himself once said: “For a small enterprise to grow and thrive, the products it offers must be unique and highly profitable, because without economies of scale, there’s no way to accumulate wealth gradually.” Solid-state electrolytes naturally possess these characteristics in their early stages of commercialization: they are difficult to replace in the short term, downstream demand is highly predictable, and the high technological barriers keep most competitors at bay.

For Zhong Shanshan, who oversees Nongfu Spring’s annual revenue of 52.5 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to shareholders of roughly 15.8 billion yuan, 500 million yuan is hardly a substantial sum. Yet this investment comes at the cusp of solid-state battery commercialization, targeting the upstream materials segment of the supply chain—when the entire industry gets rolling, everyone building solid-state batteries will need electrolytes. The logic is as straightforward as selling water: those panning for gold may not turn a profit, but those selling shovels almost certainly won’t lose out. From Jack Ma to Wuliangye, from New Hope to Zhong Shanshan, this wave of cross-industry entrants has uniformly chosen to play the role of “shovel sellers” in the new‑energy era. This is no coincidence; it reflects the most pragmatic assessment of value within the industrial chain.