BEIJING — China's lithium-ion battery industry logged rapid growth in the first half of 2022 as the country stepped up efforts to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, and the demand from downstream sectors remained strong.

It is estimated that country's output of lithium-ion batteries in the January-June period exceeded 280 gigawatt-hours, registering a year-on-year increase of 150 percent, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed on Aug 3.

The whole sector raked in over 480 billion yuan (about $70.78 billion), the ministry estimated.

China's robust lithium-ion battery output echoes the country's booming production of new energy vehicles, which soared 120 percent in the first half of this year.

Exports of lithium-ion battery products spiked 75 percent year-on-year during the period, according to the ministry.