By Phoebe Zhang
An emergency ban on some power banks imposed by China鈥檚 aviation regulator over the weekend caught travellers off guard, many of whom arrived at airports only to be told that such portable devices could not be taken onto their flights.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) began enforcing the strict ban on lithium-based power banks over safety risks on Saturday, two days after issuing the notice. The ban applies to devices without proper safety and quality certifications or those that have been associated with product recalls.
The products are not allowed in either carry-on or checked luggage for domestic flights. International flights are not affected for the time being.
A CAAC spokesperson told People鈥檚 Daily on Wednesday that the decisions followed reports of several incidents globally this year involving lithium battery products overheating on planes. Lithium batteries without China Compulsory Certification (3C) safety certifications would be barred from domestic flights, the spokesperson said. The certification applies to products that could impact health, safety and environmental protection.
According to the notice, several leading portable battery manufacturers recently recalled batches of products due to safety risks such as overheating and fire hazards. China鈥檚 market regulators have also revoked or suspended 3C certification for several battery manufacturers.
鈥淭hese developments indicate potential safety hazards associated with passengers carrying portable batteries, posing a growing risk to civil aviation safety,鈥 it said.
A passenger who flew from Shenzhen, in southern Guangdong province, on Saturday said he noticed stepped security checks. There were many signs indicating that security staff would be checking devices for 3C labels, and that products without them, or those that had been recalled, would be barred from flights, he added.
Other passengers complained on social media that their power banks were taken away, with some posting pictures showing piles of banned devices at checkpoints.
So far, the ban has not affected trains, a spokesperson for China Railway told state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday. Currently, batteries that have rated capacities under 100 watt-hours (Wh) are allowed on trains in China, regardless of whether they have the 3C label, Xinhua said.
In June, two major Chinese battery companies 鈥 Romoss and Anker 鈥 announced several recalls, with news portal The Paper reporting that the battery makers recalled 490,000 and 710,000 devices respectively.
In a June 18 statement on Weibo, Romoss said that raw material for some battery cells could be at 鈥渞isk in extreme situations鈥, and that its recall was voluntary. Anker told Chinese financial media outlet Cailian Press that it discovered a supplier had been secretly switching its battery materials, adding that the firm had since been dropped as a supplier.
China began handing out 3C certifications to lithium and portable batteries in August 2023. One year later, the certification for such products became mandatory.
Hong Kong鈥檚 aviation regulator began banning passengers from using power banks on April 7, after a spate of safety incidents. In March, a plane from the eastern city of Hangzhou to Hong Kong was forced to divert and land in Fuzhou after a fire broke out on board. The blaze was suspected to have been caused by an overheated power bank.