Workers install solar panels at a "fishing-solar hybrid" photovoltaic power station in Shuangtan Lake in East China's Anhui Province, on July 23, 2025. The project is helping boost rural economic development. Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), together with five other departments, is holding an industry meeting with photovoltaic (PV) industry representatives, with the aim of further regulating the competition order within the PV sector and promoting its high-quality development.

The departments - the MIIT, the Central Social Work Department, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Energy Administration¬ -- convened a symposium on Tuesday on the PV sector that called on industry participants "to fully recognize the importance of standardizing competitive order for the industry's high-quality development and to jointly promote healthy and sustainable growth." 

The symposium, the second in two months, urged the sector to strengthen regulations, curb overcapacity and reduce extreme competition among firms, according to a press release the MIIT posted on its official website on Tuesday.

According to Chinese business and financial media outlet Yicai, the symposium held on Tuesday was a general assembly and did not discuss the detailed on how to rein in cut-throat competition in the sector. It is expected that over the next two days, further talks on measures to rein in excessive competition in the solar cell, module, silicon wafer, and polysilicon segments of the supply chain would be discussed at the meeting, the Yicai reported on Wednesday.

An industry analyst noted that the symposium signals a coordinated effort by Chinese authorities to address structural issues within the PV industry. It aims to create a healthier competitive environment, support sustainable development, and ensure long-term industry stability. A number of significant meetings have taken place recently, signaling that efforts to combat excessive cutthroat competition within the industry are intensifying. 

Representatives of PV manufacturers and power generation companies, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, as well as local industrial and information technology authorities, attended the Tuesday's symposium, said the statement.

The symposium called for efforts to strengthen industry regulation and enhance investment management for PV industry projects, and promote the orderly exit of outdated production capacity through market-oriented and law-based approaches. The industry was also urged to curb low-price, disorderly competition; improve price monitoring and product pricing mechanisms, and crack down on illegal and irregular practices such as selling below cost and false marketing.

The meeting also called for standardizing product quality and combating practices such as lowering quality control, falsely labeling product power, and infringing intellectual property rights. 

The symposium came after a meeting on July 3, where the MIIT said that authorities should deal comprehensively with the problem of disorderly price competition in the PV industry in accordance with laws and regulations, and make efforts to guide enterprises to improve product quality, phase out backward production capacity in an orderly manner, and achieve healthy and sustainable development, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During July 3's meeting, 14 PV industry enterprises and association representatives discussed operational challenges, innovation, market competition, and industry ecosystem construction, Xinhua reported.

Recent high-level meetings indicate a continued increase in efforts to combat cutthroat competition within the industry, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"With the central government and various ministries stepping up their efforts, I'm confident that many of the challenges facing the PV sector will be addressed sooner rather than later. This is especially the case for practices that violate laws and regulations regarding unfair competition," Lin added.

In 2024, new solar PV installations in China surged 28.3 percent year-on-year to hit 277.57 gigawatts -- ranking first worldwide, according to data released by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. In the case of polysilicon, the country's production rose 23.6 percent year-on-year to 1.82 million tons in 2024, Xinhua reported.

Global Times