Synergistic development of intelligent digital transformation and green governance in China’s lithium battery industry: challenges and strategies

China’s lithium battery new energy industry is at a critical juncture of transitioning from scale expansion to high-quality development. The synergistic effect between digital-intelligent transformation and green governance is increasingly becoming a core proposition for industrial competitiveness reconstruction. This paper constructs a four-dimensional synergy analytical framework consisting of institutional supply, technological empowerment, industrial ecosystem, and international rules, and applies it to systematically examine the current progress and prominent challenges. The study finds that while China’s lithium battery industry has made significant strides in policy system construction, digital-intelligent technology application, and industrial chain collaborative governance, it still faces challenges including an imperfect carbon footprint accounting system, data silos and industrial chain synergy fragmentation, uneven digitalization levels in power battery recycling systems, and green trade barriers that compel governance upgrades. This paper emphasizes that the synergy between digital-intelligent transformation and green governance is a multi-dimensional coupling process involving institutional design, technological application, industrial ecosystems, and international rules—four interdependent and indispensable components. Accordingly, this paper proposes countermeasures including improving institutional supply and standard systems, accelerating deep application and integrated innovation of digital-intelligent technologies, building a full-industry-chain collaborative governance ecosystem, and actively participating in international rule-making and standard mutual recognition, aiming to provide theoretical references and practical insights for the high-quality development of the lithium battery industry.