China’s photovoltaic industry has recently held another self-discipline seminar after a meeting in October led by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) to curb excessive competition and price war in the industry.
According to a statement from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), it has recently held a “Self-Discipline Seminar for Photovoltaic Industry Export Enterprises” when representatives from participating companies expressed support for the Chamber’s proposal to maintain industry order.
At the seminar, Gao Jifan, Chairman of Trina Solar; Li Xiande, Chairman of Jinko Solar; and Zhong Baoshen, Chairman of LONGi Green Energy, along with executives from other major industry players, endorsed the Chamber’s call for voluntary measures to uphold industry discipline, according to the statement.
Compared to the October seminar led by CPIA, which included 16 companies, the latest meeting was attended by 22 companies, including representatives from inverter and equipment manufacturers like Sungrow, Ginlong, and Jiejia Weichuang.
A CCCME representative stressed at the seminar that upstream and downstream enterprises in the PV industry must collaborate closely, maintain discipline, and prevent excessive competition, and said the chamber will leverage its role in fostering a conducive environment for high-quality global growth of Chinese photovoltaic companies.
Industry representatives also proposed further improvements in differentiated export tax rebate mechanisms, the establishment of a “blacklist and whitelist” system, and increased loan support for companies with rational capacity layouts.
Since October, multiple self-discipline meetings have taken place in the PV industry. For instance, the CPIA organized a meeting in Shanghai on October 14 to address supply-demand imbalances and excess capacity. On November 19, over 20 silicon wafer companies held another online meeting focused on coordinated production cuts to improve market conditions.
In terms of prices, the CPIA estimated a “cost price” of 0.69 yuan/W for November, slightly higher than 0.68yuan/W in October, and the price, excluding depreciation costs, remains below both actual production costs and comprehensive costs including overhead.
The PV market has been in a turbulent cycle for nearly a year, with companies under widespread operational challenges due to an imbalance between supply and demand and rapid declines in prices across the supply chain. In light of insufficient market-based adjustments, supply-side reforms are now underway.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently issued revised standards for the PV manufacturing industry to reduce PV projects focused solely on expanding production capacity and to encourage consolidated and clustered development.
The revised standards discourage PV companies from simply expanding production capacity and raise the minimum capital ratio for new and expanded projects from 20% to 30%.
Technical standards have also been raised. The efficiency standards for new P-type cells and modules are set at 23.7% and 21.8%, respectively, from previous 23% and 20%, while for N-type cells and modules, the benchmarks are set at 26% and 23.1%, in order to curb redundant capacity expansion and promote high-efficiency production.
The revisions also include stronger green manufacturing requirements, such as the need for carbon footprint calculations and encouragement for obtaining green certifications. Companies are also encouraged to invest in the development and commercialization of photovoltaic product recycling technologies.
Gao Jifan, Chairman of Trina Solar, said that bidding and selling below cost, which violates the Bidding Law, are major drivers of the excessive competition and he urged broader industry participation in self-discipline initiatives and administrative enforcement to address such illegal practices.