National People's Congress Deputy Zhong Baosheng: Leading the resolution of "involution" competition in the photovoltaic industry with high standards

Securities Daily Two Sessions Reporting Team Yin Gaofeng

Currently, China’s photovoltaic industry faces the challenge of “involution” competition. “Although initial results have been achieved in ‘countering involution’ under the guidance of the government and relevant departments, the recovery across various segments shows significant differentiation. It is urgent to continue deepening reforms to ensure China’s photovoltaic industry maintains its international competitive advantage and energy security,” said Zhong Baosheng, a National People’s Congress delegate, Chairman and General Manager of Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Longi Green Energy”), in an interview with Securities Daily and other media.

Zhong Baosheng stated that the imbalance between capacity supply and demand has led to vicious market competition, which not only affects the high-quality and sustainable development of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry but also negatively impacts the high-quality construction of energy and power infrastructure.

In Zhong Baosheng’s view, the fundamental way to solve the industry’s “involution” is to guide competition from purely price wars toward technological and quality improvements.

The technological maturity and development logic vary significantly across different segments of the photovoltaic industry chain. Regarding how to better lead through high standards and break the industry’s “involution” competition, Zhong Baosheng proposed setting different quality and technical standards based on the technological maturity of each segment, implementing “classified policies and precise regulation.”

For example, in segments like silicon materials and wafers, where technology processes are mature and product performance is similar, the core innovation lies in reducing costs and consumption. Zhong Baosheng said that by focusing on “energy consumption” and “environmental protection,” standards for unit product energy consumption limits and pollutant emissions should be established and dynamically improved. Enterprises that fail to meet standards should be required to upgrade within a deadline, and those that do not improve should be淘汰 and退出.

Zhong Baosheng further stated that the photovoltaic new energy industry relates to national energy security and is highly valued by countries worldwide. Europe and the United States, among others, have introduced policies to vigorously develop their own manufacturing. China’s photovoltaic industry urgently needs to adopt new technologies and products to break the homogenization dilemma and lead technological iteration and upgrading in the industry.

As the core track for maintaining China’s global leadership in photovoltaic industry, the battery segment is currently in a critical period of technological iteration. Regarding this segment, Zhong Baosheng believes that a tiered and dynamic management mechanism should be established. There should be no scale restrictions on advanced capacity, while strictly limiting the output of unqualified homogeneous capacity, thereby encouraging enterprises to increase R&D investment and avoid being overtaken in the next generation of photovoltaic technology competition.