China to provide more incentives for solar panel makers

This despite massive oversupply in Chinese-made solar panels.

China will boost domestic demand for solar-generated electricity and provide easier financing to manufacturers. The government said grid companies should build networks that will be operational in sync with solar-generation projects and give priority access to their produced power. Banks need to help panel makers raise capital.

The government will also encourage mergers and acquisitions among solar companies and curb blind expansion.

“We must support the solar-panel industry overcoming difficulties and pursuing healthy development,” according to the statement from Premier Li Keqiang.

“While solidifying competitiveness in the global market, we need to stimulate effective domestic demand for solar power and spur innovation and advancement.”

China’s solar-panel industry, which supplies more than half the world market, is unprofitable amid a global glut and slower economic growth that pummeled demand. The European Union recently imposed provisional tariffs of 11.8% on imports of solar panels from Chinese companies after an investigation found they were being sold to the EU at less than production cost.