2018 traceability rules: recording battery flows
An early milestone in the national traceability framework.
- Document / event
- MIIT Announcement No. 35 (2018)
- Issuing / organising body
- MIIT
- Issued / published / original effect
- 2018-07-02 / 2018-07-03 / 2018-08-01
- Nature and status
- Historical document; repealed on 2026-04-01
The purpose of traceability
The rules established a national platform combining vehicle monitoring and battery-recycling traceability. Production, sales, use, retirement, collection and processing records supported supervision of collection responsibilities, making origins, destinations and responsible parties traceable.
Product codes as the starting point
Battery manufacturers and the second-life businesses covered at the time needed manufacturer codes, registered coding rules and product identification. Vehicle makers associated vehicle identifiers with battery codes. Codes only form a complete chain when linked to receipt, dispatch, repair, replacement and destination records.
Businesses covered by the platform
The earlier rules covered vehicle production and imports, sales, repair, battery leasing, collection points, end-of-life vehicle dismantling and battery processing. Vehicle producers, vehicle dismantlers and processing businesses needed platform accounts and relevant uploads; vehicle makers also reported and published collection networks.
Reporting periods in the former system
Different reporting deadlines applied to manufacture and imports, sales and registration, replacement, collection-point movements, vehicle retirement, battery transfer, product dispatch and final processing. Common former deadlines were 15 or 30 working days. The 2026 rules use new event-specific calendar-day deadlines, so the earlier periods are historical information rather than a current reporting checklist.
The new platform and digital identity
Order No. 73 establishes the national traction-battery traceability platform and a digital identity associated with battery codes. The framework connects manufacture, vehicle installation and sales, swapping, replacement, retirement, collection and processing. The platform launch meeting took place in Tianjin on 31 March 2026, covering traceability, enterprise responsibility assessment, analysis and industry surveys.
Permitted data use and security
The current system allows repairers, vehicle dismantlers and processors to access necessary removal and dismantling information solely to handle the relevant batteries in their own businesses. Network security, data security and commercial confidentiality remain obligations. Equipment may support scanning, station records, stock interfaces and process data; fields, interfaces and retention must follow current platform requirements rather than copied 2018 forms.
Sources
- Historical documentMIIT Announcement No. 35 of 2018
- Current rulesMIIT: national battery traceability platform launch
- Current rulesSix-ministry Order No. 73: interim management measures