(Yicai Global) July 20 -- Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology will receive CNY5 million (USD741,000) from rival Svolt Energy Technology, bringing to an end a five-month unfair competition lawsuit.

CATL and Svolt reached agreement after negotiations, a court in Ningde, the city where CATL is headquartered, said on July 18. The pair will work together to promote the healthy development of China’s new energy industry, it added.

CATL sued Svolt for unfair competition in February after nine former employees joined Svolt affiliates Wuxi Tianhong Enterprise Management Consulting and Baoding Yixin Consulting Services between 2018 and 2019, before their non-compete agreements expired, legal documents showed. CATL claimed damages of CNY1 million from each person.

A CATL ex-employee told Yicai Global that the company filed a labor arbitration case against him six months after he left the firm, claiming CNY1 million in non-compete damages. As CATL's non-compete stricture covers almost all businesses in the new energy vehicle industrial chain, avoiding compensation would mean changing careers, the person added.

CATL also sued competitors Jiangsu Tafel New Energy Technology and China Lithium Battery Technology for patent infringement. Last August, a court in Fujian province ordered Tafel to pay CATL damages of CNY23.3 million (USD3.5 million), while CALB's lawsuit is still pending.

In the first half of the year, CATL ranked first among global battery manufacturers with total shipments of 69 gigawatt-hours, achieving a market share of 34 percent, according to data compiled by market research firm SNE Research. Svolt ranked 10th with 3 GWh.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione