Source: FORTUNE

The cyclical narrative of an industry often reshuffles the ecological competitiveness of its enterprises.

In the 2026 FORTUNE Global 500 list, Tongwei Group has secured its place once again. As the only Global 500 enterprise focused on photovoltaics (PV) as its core business, Tongwei is further gaining advantages in technology, market presence and industry discourse by serving global users.

For the world, backed by an independent and controllable full industrial chain system and technological innovation strengths, China's PV industry has firmly consolidated its leading position in the global market. However, driven by continuous breakthroughs in technical routes and market cycles, China's PV sector is now in a new round of in-depth adjustment marked by iterative upgrading.

Indeed, Tongwei's consecutive ranking on the list amid industry cycles follows a clear and verifiable growth path.

‌The Anchor of Confidence: Resilience and Innovation of China's PV Industry‌

Against the backdrop of global geopolitical turbulence and growing uncertainties in the energy landscape, China's PV industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

To ensure energy security, countries worldwide are accelerating the replacement of fossil fuels with clean energy. This trend, combined with the continuous advancement of global carbon neutrality, has created broad space for PV installation demand at home and abroad, with export data already showing signs of recovery. At the same time, affected by the implementation of new PV policies, China's new domestic PV installation volume in 2026 has seen a short-term correction against the high base of previous years, leading to growing wait-and-see sentiment in the market.

It is reassuring that one certainty remains amid all uncertainties: the long-term positive logic of the industry has never changed. At present, China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, transforming itself from the country under the greatest pressure of energy transition to the largest promoter and driving force of the global energy shift. In this process, the resilience and innovation capabilities of China's PV industry and enterprises are being witnessed by the whole world.

Tongwei Headquarters Building

Accounting for over 80% of the global PV industrial chain's production capacity, China's massive PV industry scale forms the natural foundation for its strong resilience. Continuous cost reduction driven by technological innovation, coupled with the strategic value of the PV industry for energy security, has created realistic possibilities to turn current industry pains into structural adjustments for quality improvement and upgrading, and to prepare for long-term positive development in the future.

This is not empty talk, but a forward-looking judgment based on the industry's development history. According to historical experience, the in-depth capacity adjustment cycle of the PV industry usually lasts 12 to 18 months. The current cycle, which started in the second half of 2024, has already lasted far more than 12 months. With the introduction of policies such as the cancellation of export tax rebates and the implementation of strict component energy efficiency standards, the market is further concentrating on leading enterprises. The second half of 2026 is expected to witness three major turning points: inventory clearance, supply-demand balance, and profit recovery.

To embrace these turning points, greater resilience is needed. Tongwei's re-entry into the list precisely reflects the unique development resilience and firm determination of the industry. Mr. Liu Hanyuan, Deputy to the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Chairman of the Board of Tongwei Group, firmly believes that professionalism must be upheld throughout cycles: avoid blind expansion during booms, and strengthen R&D during downturns.

Guided by this typical long-term development philosophy, Tongwei on one hand expands global PV application scenarios to promote the coordinated development of its integrated industrial chain; on the other hand, it increases R&D investment to maintain continuous leadership in technology and products, leading the systematic reshaping of the "value competition" system in the PV industry.

‌Integrated Ecosystem: Sustained Consolidation of Global Leader Advantages‌

Tongwei has never lacked followers. In their eyes, countless "world firsts" form the rigid framework that underpins Tongwei's status as a leading enterprise in the FORTUNE Global 500. While this observation holds some truth, it only scratches the surface — the unremitting adherence to the development logic of "technology supremacy" is the winning weapon that allows Tongwei to stand out and maintain its leading position.

Since officially entering the new energy industry in 2006, Tongwei has rooted itself in the core technological links of the industrial chain, persisted in innovative R&D, and strengthened its integrated industrial advantages. From polysilicon and solar cells to modules, it has built a hard-to-replicate technological moat, continuously consolidating its global competitiveness.

Tongwei Silicon Energy (Inner Mongolia) Distillation Tower

Upstream, high-purity crystalline silicon is the "chip-level" core material of the PV industry, which was long monopolized by overseas players. Tongwei's self-iterated 8th-generation "Yongxiang Process" has raised product purity to the electronic-grade standard of "11 nines", with core indicators such as comprehensive power consumption and steam consumption continuously refreshing industry records, breaking the overseas technological monopoly.

Leveraging its technological advantages, Tongwei has achieved the world's highest shipment volume of high-purity crystalline silicon for many consecutive years, with a domestic market share exceeding 30%. All core indicators of its products continue to lead the industry.

Meanwhile, as the world's first PV enterprise with cumulative solar cell shipments exceeding 400GW, Tongwei has ranked first in global shipments for nine consecutive years. In 2025, its solar cell sales reached 103.03GW, with a global market share of about 15%. Among this figure, overseas cell sales increased by 73% year-on-year to 16.73GW, further consolidating Tongwei's outstanding competitiveness in the core links of the global PV industry.

Tongwei TNC Modules Supply for the Dorst Ground-Mounted PV Power Station Project in the Netherlands

In the module business, Tongwei's products were sold to more than 80 countries and regions overseas in 2025, with overseas sales surging 164% year-on-year. The Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and European markets recorded year-on-year growth of 370%, 279% and 129% respectively. With remarkable overall development results, the company has landed more than 10 hundred-megawatt benchmark projects in Romania, Ireland, Spain, Australia and other countries.

Tongwei's full-chain integrated layout features core advantages in scale effect and technological synergy. It can not only avoid supply chain fluctuation risks and ensure continuous, stable and high-quality supply, but also realize traceability management across the entire production chain, greatly improving the comprehensive performance and delivery certainty of end modules. It has built core barriers through stable supply and excellent product quality.

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Determination in Innovation: Leading the Industry to Value Competition‌

As a technology-supported enterprise in China that rarely owns three national-level enterprise technology centers simultaneously, Tongwei has continuously consolidated its development core at different stages, driving the continuous improvement of innovation advantages across all industrial chains.

Upholding the belief that "the more challenging the industry faces, the more we must rise to the R&D challenges", Tongwei currently relies on the core scientific research capabilities of its Global Innovation R&D Center to realize parallel iteration of multiple technical routes for cells and modules. This not only builds differentiated technological innovation barriers, but also leads the entire industry to break away from the trap of low-level competition and enter a new field of value competition by continuously refreshing industry efficiency and power records.

Tongwei Global Innovation R&D Center

Tongwei Global Innovation R&D Center has fully deployed cutting-edge technologies including TOPCon, HJT, xBC and perovskite/crystalline silicon tandem cells, balancing mature process upgrading and cutting-edge technology reserves. Its technology iteration pace leads the industry:

Tongwei TNC technology achieves an ultra-high cell bifaciality of 94.3% and a module bifaciality of 91.7%. Supported by three-dimensional passivation and low-loss process optimization, its mass production efficiency firmly ranks in the industry's first tier. Tongwei's "High-Efficiency and High-Bifaciality TOPCon Solar Cells and Modules" has successively won the "SNEC Top Ten Highlights" Terawatt Award and been selected into the "2025 Major Scientific and Technological Progress in the PV Field" by the Chinese Renewable Energy Society, demonstrating its leading innovation R&D strength.

At the product level, the TNC and THC product matrices continue to make breakthroughs. In the TOPCon field, Tongwei TNC 3.0 modules achieve a maximum mass production power of over 750W, a mass production efficiency of over 24.14%, and a bifaciality as high as 90%. Tongwei has become the world's first enterprise to mass-produce this type of high-efficiency module, exceeding the national first-level PV energy efficiency standard. The THC-G12 HJT copper interconnection module has a maximum power exceeding 802.43W and a conversion efficiency of 25.83%, refreshing the global crystalline silicon module power record for the 12th time.

Tongwei Solar Multi-Cell Cutting Technology Solar Cells

Exploration of cutting-edge technologies is a key part of innovation. Tongwei has built the industry's first fully automatic 5MW perovskite-crystalline silicon tandem cell pilot line, with a small-area tandem cell efficiency reaching 34.94%, continuously securing advantages in the next-generation technology track.

In December 2025, amid a strict selection process with an admission rate of only 0.85%, Tongwei stood out and was approved as one of China's first batch of "National-Level Manufacturing Pilot Platforms" — the only one in the PV industry. With profound technological accumulation and scientific research strength, Tongwei has become the responsible entity for the national key R&D plan during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, contributing to the development of China's PV industry with high-standard R&D and innovation.

With 44 years of development practice, Tongwei has proven a truth: technological innovation is the prerequisite for an industry to survive cycles, and intelligent manufacturing innovation is the ballast stone for an enterprise's value competition.

In 2025, due to its outstanding performance in empowering the full industrial chain to improve quality and reduce costs through digital and intelligent manufacturing, Tongwei Solar Meishan Company became the world's first "Lighthouse Factory" in the PV cell manufacturing field.

The World's First "Lighthouse Factory" in the PV Cell Industry — Tongwei Solar Meishan Company S4 Digital-Intelligent Hub

The "Lighthouse Factory" has an AI coverage rate of over 64%, with more than 50 cutting-edge intelligent manufacturing technologies and AI quality inspection models implemented. It realizes visible and controllable production and full-process quality traceability, and has formed a replicable and promotable "Tongwei Path" for intelligent manufacturing, setting a benchmark for China's PV industry to move from scale leadership to intelligent leadership.

Tongwei Solar Technology Yancheng Base is currently the world's largest single-site module base in the PV industry. Driven by the dual-wheel model of "digitalization + greening", it has upgraded and iterated the "5G+" full-process digital management system, building a minimalist, green and stable high-end module production system.

Enterprises represented by Tongwei, which have always regarded innovation as a rule and driving force, are already well-prepared — they have even dived into practice and achieved remarkable results.

‌Long-Termism: Upholding Integrity and Pursuing Innovation in Tongwei's 44 Years‌

From a global agricultural and animal husbandry leader to a global PV benchmark, Tongwei Group's growth process mirrors the increasingly important role China's economy plays on the global stage. Chinese enterprises are no longer just simple product manufacturers as they used to be. The brand value of Chinese enterprises including Tongwei is increasingly prominent in the global economic framework.

According to a report by World Brand Lab, Tongwei's brand value reached 275.639 billion yuan in 2026, surging more than 140 times in 23 years.

Tongwei's brand connotation continues to iterate and renew along with its industrial layout. The steady operation guided by long-termism has finally precipitated into the brand's time value.

Tongwei Zhanhua "Fishery-Solar Complementary" Project

Looking back at Tongwei's development path, every key layout was made at the bottom of the industry cycle. By adhering to long-termism, Tongwei has accumulated strength to walk out of the industry's cold winter.

Mr. Liu Hanyuan, Chairman of the Board of Tongwei Group, describes the current industry cycle as "the second darkness before dawn". This judgment reflects both confidence in the future and a pragmatic understanding of the present.

Tongwei has never stopped its R&D of cutting-edge technologies. In essence, it is cultivating internal capabilities at the bottom of the cycle to accumulate strength for the next round of industry recovery.

At present, China's PV industry is accelerating its unstoppable transformation from a "world factory" to a high-end, global clean energy system service provider. Relying on its full PV integrated industrial chain advantages, continuously iterated hard-core innovation strength and profound brand influence, Tongwei Group is continuously consolidating its leadership as an industry leader.

This is the traceable logic behind Tongwei Group's re-entry into the FORTUNE Global 500 — moving steadily and far under the guidance of long-termism, and heading towards a broader future.