CNR, Beijing, March 4 (Reporter Fu Tianming) – During the 2026 Two Sessions, Liu Hanyuan, a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC), Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group, focused on the healthy and sustainable development of China’s photovoltaic (PV) industry. He proposed integrating the PV manufacturing sector into the overall administration of the energy industry, driving the industry’s shift from scale expansion to high-quality development, and solidifying the foundation for building a national new energy system.

The PV industry is a key pillar for China to advance its “dual carbon” goals and construct a new energy system, having established a globally leading full-industry-chain advantage. Currently, China’s PV industry faces prominent issues including insufficient coordination between manufacturing and application, cyclical fluctuations in capacity supply and demand, and disorderly low-price competition. Industry capacity significantly exceeds market demand; low-price competition has led to substantial industry-wide losses for two consecutive years and a sharp decline in capital market valuations, posing challenges to industrial chain security and financial stability.

There are bottlenecks in policy implementation and market connection. In January 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued relevant documents to advance the market-oriented reform of on-grid electricity prices for new energy. However, implementation rules vary across regions. Policy uncertainty, compounded by electricity price fluctuation risks, has dampened corporate investment willingness, slowed down domestic PV installation growth, and put the industry under development pressure.

The international competitive environment is becoming increasingly complex. Affected by overseas capacity expansion and trade protectionism, the growth rate of China’s PV module exports has slowed markedly, and international market space has been squeezed. Under the dual pressure from domestic and international markets, “involutionary” competition in the PV industry has intensified, making transformation and upgrading urgent.

Deputy Liu Hanyuan holds that during this critical period when China is fully advancing its “dual carbon” goals, the PV industry should no longer be managed as a general manufacturing sector. It is imperative to better protect its leading edge forged in global competition, attach greater importance to its vital role in China’s energy transition, and its significant strategic significance for national energy and foreign exchange security. Against this backdrop, integrating PV manufacturing into energy industry administration will enable the PV industry to achieve coordination between manufacturing and application, balance security and transformation, and unify policies and regulation. For the country, this represents an upgrade of China’s energy management system based on changes in energy structure and energy security considerations, and a crucial guarantee for the implementation of the “dual carbon” goals and national high-quality development. In this regard, Deputy Liu Hanyuan puts forward the following proposals:

First, it is proposed to integrate PV manufacturing into the overall planning and administration of the energy sector. The NDRC and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shall take the lead in coordinating the administration of the PV manufacturing industry, with the National Energy Administration (NEA), State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), and other ministries and commissions providing coordinated support. PV manufacturing capacity shall be planned in an integrated manner with energy development and power grid construction, and a coordinated linkage mechanism of “manufacturing–application–consumption” shall be established.

Second, it is proposed to draw on the mature experience of traditional energy industry administration and establish a market regulation mechanism for the PV manufacturing sector in accordance with the Energy Law of the People’s Republic of China. The operation of PV manufacturing capacity shall be linked with national PV installation planning and export demand, and a dynamic balance mechanism of “production determined by demand” shall be built. The price regulation system for the PV manufacturing end shall be improved, a price early warning mechanism shall be established, price intervention and emergency price measures shall be adopted when necessary, and a risk mechanism to prevent and respond to abnormal market price fluctuations shall be constructed.

Third, it is proposed to establish a unified national monitoring platform and improve the emergency support and overcapacity monitoring system. A PV manufacturing operation monitoring system shall be set up to monitor data such as capacity, output, prices, energy consumption, and quality, as well as operational dynamics in circulation, distribution, and consumption. Polysilicon, the most upstream raw material link in PV manufacturing, shall be incorporated into the national energy security reserve system, and an emergency response mechanism for raw material supply and storage under extreme circumstances shall be established to enhance the resilience of the industrial chain.