A two-day technical workshop on lead batteries, featuring discussions on the latest breakthroughs, China's market development and the country's future research plans, ended Wednesday in Shanghai.

Held by The Consortium for Battery Innovation, formerly known as The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium, or ALABC, the workshop included some of the world's top-level experts on lead batteries.

The discussions came amid a hike in the demand for energy storage batteries across China.

Prior to this, China's National Energy Administration described lead batteries as a "backbone" industry in developing energy-related sectors, and announced plans to improve the collection rate of lead batteries in a bid to enhance recycling performance and reduce pollution.

Although the lead battery market is facing competition from the booming lithium battery market, lead batteries are still the top choice for many companies in need of energy storage batteries, such as electric bike manufacturers.