China Bans Export of Their Advanced Solar Panel Manufacturing Technologies

China produces 97% of the solar modules that are used to manufacture solar panels. They are unquestionably the global leader in solar manufacturing. Additionally, 80% of the world’s solar panels are also made in China.

The Chinese government has just taken steps to ensure that the country remains in the number 1 position.

Chinese manufacturers have now been forbidden to use or share their advanced solar manufacturing technologies overseas, according to the most recent export guidelines published by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Asia Times reports:

Chinese firms produce more than 80% of the world’s solar panels and modules but have faced heavy tariffs imposed by the United States over the past decade.

Some of them moved their facilities to Thailand and Malaysia to avoid the tariffs but Beijing does not want them to take their core technologies abroad.

Technology experts said China wanted to prevent India from becoming one of the world’s major solar panel suppliers.

In 2011, the US Commerce Department ruled that China was dumping solar panels in the US market. In 2012, it imposed duties on Chinese solar panels.

Some Chinese solar panel makers moved to Taiwan to try to evade the tariffs but the US expanded its tariffs to apply to the island.

They then moved to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Last June, the Biden administration said it would waive tariffs on solar panels imported to the US from these four countries for 24 months.

To forbid more Chinese firms to transfer their core silicon technologies overseas, China’s commerce ministry last month proposed to include these technologies in its import and export guidelines.

This may sound like closing door after the horse is out of the barn, but that’s not quite the case. Companies may have moved some machines abroad already to make large-sized silicon – but when they need parts, machines and technical support they cannot any longer buy from mainland China

Beijing also proposed to restrict the export of the country’s laser radar, genome editing and agricultural cross-breeding technologies. A public consultation began on December 30 and ended on January 28.

After the consultation, the commerce industry decided to ban the export of large silicon, black silicon and cast-mono passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technologies.

A Chinese IT columnist said large silicons sized between 182mm and 210mm would become the world’s standard as their market share had grown from 4.5% in 2020 to 45% in 2021 and would probably increase to 90% in future.

https://asiatimes.com/2023/02/china-bans-export-of-core-solar-panel-technologies/

You can read the entire story at Asia Times.