China clears CATL equity deal for Chongqing Yaoning

China's State Administration for Market Regulation listed CATL's acquisition of equity in Chongqing Yaoning New Energy Technology as unconditionally approved, with the review closed on September 3 and the case list published September 11. The parties named are CATL and Zeekr Automobile (Shanghai); stake size and price were not disclosed. Plant-level reporting puts Yaoning at about RMB 8.5 billion of investment with 30 GWh of planned annual capacity, an 18 GWh first phase under construction, trial production targeted for December 2026, and full production in the first quarter of 2027.