(Yicai) Aug. 21 -- The Chinese city of Yiwu is vigorously developing its photovoltaic industry thanks to firm government support, with five of the world’s top 10 solar companies by shipments setting up production hubs in the global capital of small commodities.

The output of PV firms above a designated size in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, totaled CNY87.2 billion (USD11.9 billion) last year, accounting for over 30 percent of the province's PV industry. The city now has the capacity to produce 35 gigawatts of solar cells and panels, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the global market.

The Yiwu government began promoting the local PV industry’s development as early as 2015. The city built the Yiwu Information and Optoelectronic High-Tech Industrial Park a year later to attract PV companies and leading firms, including Jinko Solar, JA Solar Technology, the world's second-largest maker of solar panels, Trina Solar, and Risen Energy, have each settled in the city.

Risen Energy has invested more than CNY25 billion in Yiwu in two tranches. The city, which has a population of less than 2 million, has enough workers, and the government is willing to subsidize plant construction, so many PV companies are coming to the city, Zhuang Yinghong, global marketing director of the Ningbo-based firm, told Yicai.

“The main consideration in building PV production bases in China is local government subsidies," Zhuang noted, adding that Yiwu is competing fiercely for companies with strong government support. The city helps solar businesses meet the costs of labor, land, water, and electricity in the early investment stage, Zhuang pointed out.

Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy, the first PV firm in Yiwu, disclosed in its 2020 earnings report that it received about CNY336 million (USD46 million) from the government for equipment, industrial development, production base utilities, training, along with other incentives.

The local government's investment attraction policy, supporting services, and the city's regional characteristics are why JA Solar chose to build a base there, the manager of the Beijing-based firm's production in Yiwu added.

As an international trade city, Yiwu has an advantage in terms of its logistics port, the person noted. It is located about 100 kilometers from the Port of Ningbo, and goods that go through customs clearance in Yiwu do not need to go through them at the port, which is convenient for exporting PV products, he added.

The total output of Yiwu's PV industry will likely reach CNY100 billion (USD13.7 billion) by 2025, and it should have five leading firms, each with output in excess of CNY10 billion, it said in a 2020 development plan. The city should also have a group of growth enterprises with output of more than CNY1 billion (USD137 million) each.

Editor: Martin Kadiev