China's solar products exports drop sharply

Due to the ongoing trade disputes, the export volume of China's photovoltaic solar products will drop to about $13 billion this year, down 40 percent year-on-year, Wang Bohua, secretary general of the China PV Industry Alliance, said on Tuesday.

Europe's anti-dumping and anti-subsidies investigations on China's solar products will have a bigger influence on the domestic solar industry than the probes started by the United States, said Wang during the 2012 Intersolar China Conference in Beijing.

He said that domestic orders for manufacturing equipment for PV solar products have dropped 80 percent year-on-year, which indicates the dramatic drop of China's PV production.

The overseas market takes about 90 percent of China's PV industry output. The US and Europe are the two biggest markets.

"Up to 90 percent of Chinese poly-silicon producers have stopped production because of the falling demand," he said. "Even though some large companies are trying hard to keep producing, their capacity utilization is low."

"China's PV solar industry is like an ‘abandoned baby' now," said Li Junfeng, president of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association. "It was everyone's favorite when it could make money, but now, it lost favor with media and investors."

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn