Source: Economic Daily

Reporter: Liu Chang

Under the background of promoting the "dual carbon" goal, as a strategic emerging industry supported by the state and the main force in promoting energy transformation, the photovoltaic industry has been showing a rapid development trend in recent years. The industrial scale is constantly expanding, and the installed capacity is increasing significantly year by year. While the installed capacity of photovoltaic power is increasing significantly year by year, the proportion of indicators obtained by private enterprises is decreasing year by year, and the market share is shrinking year by year. In this regard, Liu Hanyuan, chairman of the board of directors of Tongwei Group, deputy to the National People's Congress and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, suggests supporting private enterprises to participate in photovoltaic power station investment fairly and helping China's "dual carbon" goal to be achieved.

Liu Hanyuan, chairman of the board of directors of Tongwei Group, deputy to the National People's Congress and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

According to public information statistics, from 2020 to 2022, among the centralized photovoltaic power station indicators released nationwide, the proportion of indicators obtained by central and state-owned enterprises was 46.8%, 74.1%, and 79.9% respectively, and the proportion of indicators obtained by private enterprises was 53.1%, 25.9%, and 20.1% respectively. In 2023, a total of 184.15 GW of centralized photovoltaic power station indicators were released nationwide. Among them, central and state-owned enterprises obtained 159.92 GW of indicators, accounting for 86.8%; private enterprises obtained 24.23 GW of indicators, and the proportion was further reduced to 13.2%. From the perspective of enterprise categories, in 2023, there were a total of 30 enterprises with an indicator acquisition volume of 1 GW or more. Central and state-owned enterprises accounted for 26 seats, and private enterprises only had 4 seats. Moreover, the top 17 were all central and state-owned enterprises. Especially in the development of large-scale wind and solar power bases, due to the upgrade of investment amount and construction management difficulty, and more stringent requirements on the scale and volume of investment entities, when local governments allocate indicators, private enterprises can hardly substantially participate in the development of large-scale wind and solar power base projects.

Deputy Liu Hanyuan said that over the past more than 40 years of reform and opening up, the private economy has played an indispensable and important role in the development of the national economy. Since the 18th National Party Congress, the development vitality of private enterprises has been greatly stimulated. The proportion of private enterprises in the total number of enterprises has increased from nearly 80% to more than 90%. At present, the private economy is generally characterized by "five, six, seven, eight, and nine", that is, it contributes more than 50% of taxes, more than 60% of GDP, more than 70% of technological innovation achievements, more than 80% of urban employment, and more than 90% of the number of enterprises. It can be said that without the stable and rapid development of the private economy, there will be no stable and rapid development of the entire economy. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said, "The historical contributions of the private economy cannot be erased, and the status and role of the private economy cannot be questioned. Any remarks or actions that deny or weaken the private economy are wrong."

On October 16, 2022, the General Secretary clearly pointed out in the report of the 20th National Party Congress that to build a high-level socialist market economic system, it is necessary to "adhere to and improve the basic socialist economic system, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public economy, unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public economy, give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and better play the role of the government", and "optimize the development environment for private enterprises, protect the property rights of private enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, and promote the development and growth of the private economy". On July 19, 2023, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy" (Zhongfa [2023] No. 15), clearly stating that "support private enterprises to participate in promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, provide carbon reduction technologies and services, and increase investment in fields such as renewable energy power generation and energy storage."

Deputy Liu Hanyuan pointed out that the series of support policies issued by the state have given private enterprises the expectation of stable development and effectively boosted the confidence of private economic development. However, in the specific implementation process, private enterprises are increasingly at a disadvantage in the development of photovoltaic power generation projects. The proportion of indicator acquisition is decreasing day by day, the living space is increasingly compressed, the living environment is becoming more and more difficult, and the market has also lost a fair competitive environment. In the long run, it may make the industry lose its vitality, innovation ability and development stamina, which is not conducive to the sustainable and healthy development of the industry and needs to be highly valued.

In order to effectively implement the spirit of the central government, implement the requirements of supporting the development of the private economy, truly support private enterprises to participate in photovoltaic power generation project investment fairly, and help China's "dual carbon" goal to be achieved, Deputy Liu Hanyuan suggests:

First, it is recommended to further optimize the business environment, create a fair competition market environment, and break the barriers for private enterprises to participate in investment in the photovoltaic power generation field. Effectively break down market access barriers, prohibit setting or setting access barriers in disguise for private enterprises, implement fair competition policies, establish and improve implementation mechanisms, treat all types of ownership enterprises equally and equally, and enable various ownership economies to use production factors equally and participate in market competition fairly in accordance with the law.

Second, it is recommended to implement targeted policies and implement various support policies for private enterprises. Further clarify and compact the responsibilities of relevant local departments. According to the requirements of relevant national documents and combined with local realities, formulate practical implementation plans, promote the implementation of various measures, and strengthen the follow-up supervision of the issued policies to promote private enterprises to participate in investment in the photovoltaic power generation field with greater efforts.