Yixing shows how to back industry

There was a time when Yixing, a county-level city under Wuxi, used to be renowned for ceramic teapots and tourism.

Today, it has transformed into an industrial city by building a number of industry chains.

One such chain the local government has helped develop is the photovoltaic (or solar panel) industry, an area where China leads, in terms of scale and development speed.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Chinese companies had more than 50 percent of the global market share by late January, throughout the production chain of the photovoltaic industry.

Yixing's companies constitute a sort of solar power industry ecosystem.

For instance, Zhonghuan Applied Materials Co Ltd, a relatively new firm registered in March 2017, will operate to its full capacity in July this year, producing up to 180 million monocrystalline silicon cells every month.

Based on their price last year (6 yuan, or 90 cents, each), the potential monthly revenue of Zhonghuan Applied Materials will exceed 1 billion yuan this year, making it the largest single workshop in the world, in terms of output.

Next in the chain is DSZ Solar, a producer of solar panels. By using the technology from one of its shareholders, SunPower based in the Silicon Valley, DSZ launched its new P-series product on Jan 16.

The P-series has an efficiency rate of 19.6 percent for solar energy. Such efficiency has also passed the accreditation test of German testing and certification company TUV.

According to Lin Guangping, chairman of DSZ, the company has three assembly lines for the P-series. The first lot of 51-megawatt solar panels has already been sold overseas.

Next in the line is China National Building Material Group's Yixing New Material Co Ltd, which produces ultra-thin photovoltaic glass. In early April last year, the company produced 1.5-mm photovoltaic glass, the thinnest of its kind.

Company officials said the glass is more environmentally friendly than its predecessors, and helps reduce energy consumption.

New Material attributed its achievements in production speed and technology advancement to the local government's help. Yixing Environmental Protection Technology Innovation& Entrepreneurship Investment Co Ltd, a local-level State-owned enterprise specializing in investments in environmental protection, is the third-largest shareholder in New Material, showing the government's resolve to boost local industry.

"It is with precise government policies that companies can be truly motivated," said Shen Jian, Party secretary of Yixing. "We have launched a number of industry funds in the city to inject more vitality into companies and to provide momentum to the city's sustained economic growth."