China urges solar firms to find global partners to navigate tariffs, trade tensions
Commerce ministry official asks companies to seek partnerships in belt and road countries and invest in solar power projects
China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers should tie-up with foreign companies to navigate geopolitical and trade challenges to maintain the country’s grip on the sector and boost revenues after exports fell 35 per cent this year, a Ministry of Commerce official told industry representatives.
Gu Yu, deputy director of the ministry’s Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, urged PV makers to seek cooperation with local companies in the Belt and Road Initiative countries and explore opportunities through investments in solar power projects. The bureau’s main function is to provide trade solutions to companies overseas and conduct anti-dumping investigation on imports.
“The world’s clean energy transition should not only be a China story, it should also be a global story with different countries joining hands,” Gu said in a speech at China’s annual solar industry conference on Thursday in Yibin, in southwestern Sichuan province.
Gu’s appeal comes after the US last week announced a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian countries – Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam – over dumping allegations.
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The move will have a significant impact on Chinese manufacturers, which have already been hit with higher tariffs from the US and the European Union this year. Many companies consider Southeast Asia a haven to transfer production capacity overseas in an attempt to bypass tariffs on direct imports from China.
