(Yicai) May 22 -- The China Photovoltaic Industry Association has called on its members to fight the malicious low-price competition, given the rapid decline in solar product prices that spurred fierce competition.

PV companies should also promote mergers and restructurings within the sector, the CPIA said on WeChat yesterday, citing the topics discussed at a meeting it held on May 10 with representatives from 14 entities, including large solar companies, the Development Research Centre of the State Council of China, the Energy Research Institute under China’s National Development and Reform Commission, financial institutions, research institutes, and local governments.

The PV sector is highly marketized, thus related issues should be addressed through marketized measures, according to the meeting. However, the Chinese government should also play its role as a guide to optimize management policies for PV manufacturing and lure investors.

The meeting also emphasized the need to introduce effective measures to protect intellectual property rights, guarantee the stable growth of the domestic PV market, and reverse the low-price competition by supporting the application of advanced technologies via demonstration projects.

Since January, product prices along various links of the PV supply chain have declined, some of them even below their costs. Against the backdrop of great inventory pressure, some solar enterprises have terminated their investment projects or postponed the construction of facilities.

The most-active photovoltaic exchange traded fund has slumped 36.5 percent so far this year and about 50 percent since the peak in August 2022. 

Because of the PV sector’s intensified competition and accelerated reshuffling, China’s newly installed PV capacity dropped over 32 percent to just over 9 gigawatts in March from a year earlier, according to data from China’s National Energy Administration. 

Editor: Futura Costaglione