Since the Hu Jintao regime, and highlighted further under Xi Jinping, China has sought to transform its economy through the huge investment in innovative technology. What is unique about solar energy in China is that it was an important export industry in the early 2000s, before it emerged as a critical renewable energy industry.
A key reason why China has evolved in a global leader in solar technology is the vast support it received from its government. Through supplying financial incentives like low-interest loans and subsidies, solar energy has become an attractive options for local governments and energy companies to adopt in China.
China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history. It cut the wholesale price of panels it sells by nearly half. And its exports of fully assembled solar panels climbed 38 percent while its exports of key components almost doubled.
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports. China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history.
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports. A solar farm owned by the Huaneng Group in Shilin, China. Credit…Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year.
China hopes to harness emerging industries like solar power, which Mr. Xi likes to describe as “new productive forces,” to re-energize an economy that has slowed for more than a decade. The emphasis on solar power is the latest installment in a two-decade program to make China less dependent on energy imports.