(JW Insights) Aug 22 -- The city of Yiwu in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province is vigorously developing its photovoltaic industry thanks to firm government support, with five of the world’s top 10 solar companies by shipments setting up production hubs in the global capital of small commodities, reported Yicai Global on August 21.
The output of PV firms above a designated size in Yiwu, totaled RMB87.2 billion ($11.9 billion) last year, accounting for over 30 percent of the Province's PV industry. The city now has the capacity to produce 35 gigawatts of solar cells and panels, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the global market.
The Yiwu government began promoting the local PV industry’s development as early as 2015. The city built the Yiwu Information and Optoelectronic High-Tech Industrial Park a year later to attract PV companies and leading firms, including Jinko Solar, JA Solar Technology, the world's second-largest maker of solar panels, Trina Solar, and Risen Energy, have each settled in the city.
Risen Energy has invested more than RMB25 billion in Yiwu in two tranches. The city, which has a population of less than 2 million, has enough workers, and the government is willing to subsidize plant construction, so many PV companies are coming to the city, Zhuang Yinghong, global marketing director of the Ningbo-based firm, told Yicai.
Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy, the first PV firm in Yiwu, disclosed in its 2020 earnings report that it received about RMB336 million ($46 million) from the government for equipment, industrial development, production base utilities, training, along with other incentives.
As an international trade city, Yiwu has an advantage in terms of its logistics port. It is located about 100 kilometers from the Port of Ningbo, and goods that go through customs clearance in Yiwu do not need to go through them at the port, which is convenient for exporting PV products, the manager of the Beijing-based firm added.
The total output of Yiwu's PV industry will likely reach RMB100 billion ($13.7 billion) by 2025, and it should have five leading firms, each with output in excess of RMB10 billion, it said in a 2020 development plan. The city should also have a group of growth enterprises with output of more than RMB1 billion ($137 million) each, according to the Yicai Global report.
(Gao J/Yuan XY)
