Calls to ramp up China's photovoltaic industry

A Chinese worker installs solar panels at a photovoltaic power station in Dongwangzhuang village, Yiyang county, Luoyang city, Central China's Henan province, August 27, 2016. [Photo/IC]

China's photovoltaic industry must develop a core technological edge to gain a stronger standing in the overseas market, instead of relying on low prices, said a top Chinese Ministry of Commerce official at the opening ceremony of the Photovoltaic Conference & Exhibition of China on Wednesday.

"China's photovoltaic exports have encountered a lot of barriers, including anti-dumping and anti-subsidiary accusation, from overseas market. Only core technologies can help a company to stand firm in the industry," said Liu Danyang, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's trade remedy and investigation bureau.

According to the national strategic plan (2016-20), the commercialized new energy power installed capacity should reach 680 million kilowatts by 2020, with annual power generation of 1.9 trillion kilowatt hours, accounting for 27 percent of the total power generation.

The target photovoltaic installed capacity by 2020 is 150 million kilowatts, up from 43.2 million kilowatts at the end of 2015. China has the largest photovoltaic installed capacity in the world.

"Some of the challenges of China's photovoltaic industry are limited business models and lack of matching policies and facility. Our ministry will help the industry to have more application in industrial parks, infrastructure for civil use and urban transportation," said Wu Shengwu, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's electronic information department.

The conference, held from October 18 to 21, also includes discussion and exhibition of wind power.

China's wind power energy industry must be free of subsidies to grow strong in the real sense, said Li Peng, director of the new and renewable energy department of the National Energy Administration.

"No competitive industries in the world rely on heavy government subsidies. Subsidies, which support the wind power industry in the initial stage, could kill it eventually. We should lower the cost of wind power in order to gain a foothold in the new energy market," said Li.