- Qiantang Materials Lab raises stake in Qifang New Materials to 12%
- Move adds to founder’s growing push into advanced materials and energy storage supply chains
Nongfu Spring founder and multibillionaire Zhong Shanshan (钟睒睒) has increased his exposure to battery safety materials, backing Qifang (齐方新材料), a new materials startup, for a second time through his Qiantang Materials Lab (钱塘材料实验室) platform.
The latest transaction marks the second time Qiantang Materials Lab has invested in Qifang, lifting its stake to 12%. The financial terms were not disclosed.
The lab first entered the company in December 2025, when Qifang was still registered in Beijing. In February 2026, the company relocated its registration to Hangzhou’s Xihu District and moved into the headquarters of Qiantang Materials Lab.
Qiantang Materials Lab is a Hangzhou-based advanced materials research and commercialization platform wholly owned by Yangshengtang (养生堂).
Yangshengtang is a privately held Chinese consumer and investment group controlled by Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, with interests spanning beverages, healthcare, and emerging technology investments.
Advanced materials portfolio
The sequence of investment, relocation and follow-on funding points to a deeper consolidation of Qifang within Zhong’s expanding advanced materials portfolio.
In May, a private equity vehicle backed by Yangshengtang led a Series A round in Zhejiang Zhibang Lithium Battery New Material Co. (智邦锂电), a solid-state electrolyte company, marking Zhong’s entry into the new-energy materials sector.
That deal was valued at about 500 million yuan ($74 million), with Yangshengtang indirectly taking roughly a 10% stake in Zhibang Lithium.
Safety barrier for EV batteries
Qifang’s core product is a ceramic-based composite fiber mat, an ultra-thin thermal insulation material measuring 1-3 millimeters — in some cases under 1 millimeter — capable of withstanding temperatures above 1,000°C for up to 30 minutes without burn-through, cracking or powdering under sustained vibration.
The material is designed as a safety barrier for electric vehicle battery packs.
In high-density battery modules, thermal runaway in a single cell can exceed 1,000°C and trigger cascading failure across adjacent cells.
By contrast, traditional insulation materials face a trade-off between thermal protection and space efficiency, with each additional millimeter reducing battery capacity and driving range.
Zhejiang’s manufacturing appeal
Qifang was founded by post-90s entrepreneur Lang Jialiang, a materials science postdoctoral researcher from Tsinghua University.
The company was established in Beijing in February 2023. By April 2024, its production base had been moved to the Wuzhen microelectronics industrial park in Zhejiang’s Tongxiang, home an extensive network of manufacturers.
Its first mass production line was built in under a year, and batch shipments began in the second half of 2025.
