As an industry leader focusing on the intelligent manufacturing and service of automotive low-voltage batteries, Camel Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Camel shares", 601311.SH) is continuously promoting the development of the "lead-acid lithium battery" dual-cycle industry.

A reporter from China Business News learned from an interview with Camel that during the National People's Congress this year, Liu Changlai, a representative of the National People's Congress and Chairman of Camel, submitted the "Recommendations on Optimizing and Adjusting the Consumption Tax Policy for Lead Batteries" and "Regarding the High-quality Development of the Recycled Lead Industry" all centered on the green and high-quality development of the lead-acid battery (hereinafter referred to as "lead battery") industry.

According to reports, on January 26, 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued a notice that since January 1, 2016, the state has begun to levy consumption tax on lead batteries at a rate of 4%. As of 2022, the amount of consumption tax paid in the lead storage battery industry will exceed 37 billion yuan.

"the purpose of levying consumption tax is mainly to reduce or limit the high energy consumption and high pollution of the industry, and to advocate the concept of energy conservation, environmental protection and green development." Liu Changlai said, but as the lead-acid battery technology becomes more mature and environmental management becomes more standardized, the entire lead-acid battery industry has greatly reduced the loss of resources and risks to the environment. Lead-acid batteries have an ultra-high recycling rate and are no longer "high" Pollution, high environmental risk "products, the policy background of consumption tax collection has undergone profound changes.

In this regard, Liu Changlai suggested: "In order to better promote the green and high-quality development of the lead-acid battery industry, it is recommended to optimize and adjust the lead-acid battery consumption tax policy."

Lead-acid batteries are no longer "double-high" products

The lead-acid battery industry is an important part of the national economy. In Liu Changlai's view, lead-acid battery is the most important type of battery in low-voltage batteries for new energy vehicles, and it is also one of the most important battery types selected for public transportation vehicles with high safety requirements such as trains and airplanes. It is currently the market share. The largest and most widely used battery product.

Since January 1, 2016, in order to reduce or limit the high energy consumption and high pollution of the lead-acid battery industry, the relevant state departments have levied consumption tax on lead-acid batteries at a rate of 4%. Statistics show that from 2016 to 2022, the consumption tax paid by the lead-acid battery industry exceeded 37 billion yuan, with an average annual tax payment of about 5.3 billion yuan. Among them, the consumption tax paid by the whole industry in 2022 is expected to reach 6.3 billion yuan.

"the negative impact of consumption tax on industries and enterprises has long been highlighted, and enterprises in the industry generally call for the optimization and adjustment of consumption tax." Liu Changlai said that the lead-acid battery industry is no longer a "high energy consumption" industry, and the unit energy consumption of lead-acid batteries is lower than that of lithium-ion batteries.

It is understood that in February 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecological Environment, and the National Energy Administration issued the ''Implementation Guidelines for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformation and Upgrading in Key Areas of High Energy-consuming Industries (2022 Edition) '', Issued the implementation guidelines for energy conservation and carbon reduction transformation and upgrading in 17 high energy-consuming industries; June 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the National Energy Administration issued the" Benchmark Level and Benchmark Level of Energy Efficiency in Key Industrial Areas (2023 Edition) ", which provides energy consumption benchmarks and benchmarks for 9 high-energy-consuming industries The level clarifies the standard.

Liu Changlai analyzed that lead-acid batteries are not included in the list of high energy consumption industries stipulated in the above two major policy documents, so lead-acid batteries are not high energy consumption industries.

"Lead-acid batteries, like lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, sodium batteries, and flow batteries, are important energy carriers for building new energy systems and achieving the'dual carbon' goal." Liu Changlai pointed out that by analyzing and comparing the energy consumption limits per unit product stipulated in national standards, industry standards, and industry norms for lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries, it can be found that the comprehensive energy consumption of lead-acid batteries is similar to that of lithium batteries. The energy consumption of materials is much lower than that of lithium batteries.

Liu Changlai also said that lead-acid batteries have ultra-high recycling rate and are no longer "high pollution and high environmental risk" products.

"At present, the domestic lead-acid battery products and the overall green manufacturing and advanced technology level of the industry have undergone fundamental changes." Liu Changlai further stated that the "High Pollution and High Environmental Risk" product category of the "Comprehensive List of Environmental Protection (2021 Edition)" issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2021 does not include lead batteries, which also shows that the green development results of lead battery products are recognized., Lead batteries are no longer "double high" products.

Suggest tax exemption for lead-acid battery products and standard enterprises

In terms of standardized recycling of waste lead-acid batteries, since 2016, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has continued to implement the extended producer responsibility system in the lead-acid battery industry, and carried out pilot work on centralized collection and transfer of waste lead-acid batteries, and has also achieved remarkable results.

Liu Changlai introduced that according to statistics, the current standard recovery rate of waste lead-acid batteries has reached about 90%, and remarkable results have been achieved, which has fundamentally improved the pollution problem in the past lead-acid battery recycling link. The original purpose of collecting consumption tax on lead-acid batteries has long been achieved.

In addition, Liu Changlai said that lead-acid batteries for car start-up are the core parts of automobiles, and there is a problem of repeated collection of automobile consumption tax and lead-acid battery consumption tax. "Among the existing excise tax items, excise taxes ranging from 3 to 20 per cent are levied on passenger cars of different displacements and medium and light commercial vehicles, respectively. Each vehicle is equipped with at least one lead-acid battery for starting use, and the battery has already paid a 4 per cent excise tax when it is sold to the OEMs, and there is currently a problem of repetitive taxation."

It is understood that car tires are similar to lead-acid batteries for car starting, and they are one of the important parts of cars, and they have also been levied consumption tax. In December 2014, in order to avoid double taxation in the automobile industry, the state finally abolished the consumption tax on automobile tires on the basis of the previous reduction of the consumption tax rate. "The lead-acid battery for automobile start-up can refer to the management experience of automobile tires and reduce or cancel the consumption tax." Liu Changlai suggested.

Since 2016, the consumption tax has directly squeezed the operating profit of the company, and the consumption tax on lead batteries accounts for a higher proportion of the total tax paid by the company. Liu Changlai cited Tianneng Stock (688819.SH) and Camel Stock, the leading enterprises in the industry, as examples. In 2022, the two enterprises will pay consumption taxes of 1.29 billion yuan and 0.313 billion yuan respectively, accounting for 35.8 and 20 per cent of their total taxes, with net profit margins of 4.39 and 3.4 per cent respectively. The economic benefits of the enterprises will be at a low level for a long time.

"China's consumption tax weakens the competitiveness of lead-acid batteries in the international market, which is not conducive to the growth of the export scale of the industry, is not conducive to the huge R & D investment required for the transformation and upgrading of enterprises, and can not support the high-quality development road of enterprises based on the internal cycle and integrated into the international cycle." To this end, Liu Changlai suggested that lead-acid battery products be exempted from consumption tax.

"The lead-acid battery for car start-up is one of the indispensable important parts of the car. At present, there has been repeated collection of consumption tax. Referring to the work experience of canceling the consumption tax on car tires, the consumption tax on the lead-acid battery for car start-up should be canceled first." Liu Changlai said.

In addition, Liu Changlai also suggested that enterprises should be exempted from consumption tax on lead-acid batteries. It is proposed to revise the "Standard Conditions for the Lead Battery Industry", add detailed requirements for the implementation of the extended producer responsibility system, and exempt enterprises that meet the conditions from battery consumption tax.

Specifically, Liu Changlai suggested that lead-acid battery manufacturers that have implemented the extended producer responsibility system and realized "one sale and one receipt" should be included in the new "List of Enterprises with Standard Conditions for the Lead-acid Battery Industry"; For the establishment of a complete waste lead battery recycling system, supporting the corresponding information management system, monitoring and management of the whole recycling process, enterprises that can trace, inquire and verify the waste lead storage batteries for recycling are exempted from battery consumption tax. The tax department may conduct spot checks and post-supervision based on the relevant data of the information management system.