"Double Opposites": Technology Upgrade Is the Key

For China's photovoltaic industry, "double reaction" is not a new topic. Since the United States put forward its "double opposition" for the first time in 2011, three and a half years ago, the global photovoltaic products in China have frequently been difficult.

Nowadays, the “double reaction” against foreign PV products in China has become the norm. “The key to reducing trade friction is to accelerate the consolidation and reorganization of the industry and technological progress, and truly achieve the transition from scale to technology to win. Only with greater competitiveness can it be accepted by the international market.” Director of Energy Economics Research Center, Xiamen University Lin Boqiang said in an interview with this reporter.

Recent European and American "double counter" sanctions frequently

In early May, the European Photovoltaic Manufacturers Association once again filed a complaint with the European Commission, accusing China's PV companies of passing through third places such as Malaysia and selling products to Europe to evade tariffs.

As we all know, in recent years, there has been a continuous dispute between China and the EU on bilateral photovoltaic trade. In August 2013, the China-EU dispute over PV trade reached a settlement with a price commitment. Since then, the accusations that Chinese companies have violated their price commitments have continued. In March, the European Commission proposed in its published document that the three companies, namely Huihui Sunshine, Zhongsheng Optoelectronics and Artes Solar, be removed from the China-EU Minimum Price Agreement (MIP) for Photovoltaic Modules, believing the actions of the three companies. Violation of the MIP protocol. On June 7, the European Commission announced that it will levy high tariffs on the above three companies and allow them to withdraw from the MIP agreement. If this plan is implemented, the three companies will be imposed an average tariff of 47%, and the cost of exporting to Europe will increase substantially.

In addition to Europe, Canada launched a "double counter" investigation on photovoltaic modules and wafers in China late last year. On June 3 this year, the Canadian Border Service Agency determined that China's photovoltaic industry was a non-market economy industry, and made a final ruling on the "double reverse" investigation of PV modules and wafers imported from China, and plans to disclose it within 15 days.

No need to overinterpret "double reverse"

"Recently, the EU and Canada's investigations into the 'double reverse' of domestic photovoltaic products are actually a continuation of previous anti-dumping measures in Europe and the United States." Lin Boqiang told this reporter.

The industry speculated that the original intention of the European Photovoltaic Manufacturers Association’s complaint was mainly to provoke the European Union to conduct “anti-circumvention investigations” on crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules and key components originating in China, and a deeper level of intention was based on The circumvention of the relevant materials obtained by the evasion of investigations was an excuse to prompt the European Commission to make a decision to extend the price commitment between China and the EU that should have expired in December this year.

The reporter learned that before the China-EU price commitment expires, the European Commission will review the implementation situation and decide whether the price commitment is extended or cancelled. In the “anti-circumvention investigation” investigation, if there is a violation of the price commitment and the existence of a circumvention of customs duties, the implementing entity will be removed from the list of companies that implement price commitments and be subject to heavy taxes.

For Canada’s “double reverse” investigation, Xie Feng, a senior analyst at IHS, told reporters: “Canada and the European Union have always been in the same camp and are trying to suppress the photovoltaic industry in China. In fact, Canada itself needs to develop solar power. The country's photovoltaic manufacturing capacity is very weak, and objectively requires China's PV modules with high quality and low cost. The 'double reverse' of China's PV products will lead to the increase of the cost of Canadian PV manufacturing, and ultimately it will also need to pay for anti-dumping.”

“Actually, it is not necessary to over-interpret “double reverse”. Dual reverse is a market behavior, and for more and more end markets, Chinese PV companies have more choices. Photovoltaic installed capacity has exceeded 40 GW, and China's newly installed capacity has also exceeded 10 GW, which has given domestic PV companies a lot of living space. The immediate impact of 'double reverse' on small businesses is slightly larger, and large companies have eased more. The ability to withstand pressure is also growing." Ding Wenlei, chairman of Hangyu Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd., told this reporter.

Technical upgrade to get rid of price war

"In the face of double opposition, the direct response measures taken by the company may be different." Xie Feng added, "For the EU's 'double reverse' survey, the first shipment of component shipments in the first quarter of this year Sri Lanka chose to continue its appeal, while No. 8 Yan Huiguang and Zhong Sheng Opto, which did not enter the top ten, opted to withdraw from the MIP agreement and no longer ship from China to Europe.”

"The direct impact of the 'double reverse' is that many smaller manufacturers will directly abandon their exports to Europe and the United States, and companies that are unwilling to give up these markets will inevitably face increasing costs in many aspects." Lin Boqiang pointed out that "domestic photovoltaics The further rise of the application market, and thus getting rid of foreign markets, will be the long-term development of the domestic photovoltaic industry."

“At present, there is a growing demand for photovoltaic products in China, which provides a huge market for domestic production capacity. More companies will shift their focus to domestic sales, and the demand for photovoltaics in some emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Japan will increase rapidly. The extent of making Europe and the United States 'double reverse' greatly reduced." Lin Boqiang added.

A number of industry sources interviewed by reporters have said that the reason why Europe and the United States have initiated "double opposition" to China's photovoltaic products is because China's current photovoltaic industry still wins with scale and wins at low prices instead of winning with technology.

Facing the current difficulties in Europe and the United States, there is a voice in the industry that it is a better choice to set up factories overseas. In this regard, Ding Wenlei told this reporter: “To invest and set up factories in overseas is a direction to go out, but this concept is relatively backward, the key is to accelerate the integration and reorganization, through the upgrading of technology to achieve an increase in efficiency, and ultimately achieve cost reduction. Goal, this is the biggest competitiveness."