Business Structure and Environmental Sustainability Strategy in China's EV Battery Industry: A Comparative Case Study of CATL and BYD

This study examines how business structure shapes the design and implementation of environmental sustainability strategies in China's EV-battery industry by comparing CATL, a specialised battery supplier, with BYD, a vertically integrated battery-and-vehicle producer. Using a qualitative comparative case-study design, it analyses corporate ESG and annual reports, official policy documents, academic literature and market-share data from 2023 to mid-2025. Drawing on sustainable supply chain management, global value-chain governance and the natural-resource-based view, the analysis identifies two overlapping coordination pathways. CATL's model is associated with more formalised inter-organisational carbon governance, supplier coordination and product-footprint accounting. BYD's integration supports closer links among battery-vehicle design, manufacturing efficiency and internal energy management, while still requiring upstream supplier governance. Market leadership can amplify implementation capacity but does not measure sustainability. The study shows that organisational boundaries shape where sustainability decisions and capabilities are coordinated across the value chain.