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On October 9, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. Spokesperson Shen Danyang responded to hot and sensitive issues of high concern to domestic and foreign media. PV related records are as follows:
Reporter: In August of this year, the European Union successively withdrew the qualifications for price commitments of 8 Chinese photovoltaic companies, resulting in as many as 16 Chinese photovoltaic companies that have been "exited". In the first half of this year, my country's exports of photovoltaic products to Europe fell sharply by 30%. Does the Ministry of Commerce have any comment on this?
Answer: This question actually involves two aspects: one is the disqualification of some enterprises in the implementation of the China-EU photovoltaic price commitment, and the other is the decline in China's photovoltaic exports to Europe. There is a certain degree of correlation between these two aspects. The disqualification of some companies for price commitments will objectively affect their exports within the scope of price commitments, but it is not the root cause of the decline in my country's photovoltaic exports to Europe.
Regarding the issue of the disqualification of some enterprises in the implementation of China-Europe photovoltaic price commitments. From June 2015 to August 2016, the European Commission cancelled the price commitment qualifications of 16 photovoltaic companies in my country in 7 times. The 16 companies that have been disqualified from price commitments are divided into two categories: one is voluntarily applying for withdrawal, and there are 4 such companies; the other is that they are disqualified for suspected violation of price commitment agreements, and there are 12 in total.
Some companies need to be treated objectively. First of all, we have to see that the vast majority of companies continue to retain qualifications for price commitments. In the past few years, China and the EU have upheld the spirit of cooperation and worked hard together to pave the way for the smooth implementation of the price commitment agreement. The vast majority of Chinese photovoltaic companies have complied with the agreement and the implementation is good. In addition to the disqualification of 16 companies, there are currently 105 companies still within the price commitment range. Secondly, some of the enterprises that have applied for withdrawal are voluntary actions of enterprises, mainly for the purpose of getting rid of the constraints of the terms of the price commitment agreement and seeking favorable market opportunities and space for them. Third, some companies do violate the agreement. Keeping promises is the basic position that China has always adhered to. For such enterprises, China supports the handling of such enterprises in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, which is not tolerant or tolerant. Fourth, there are still some problems in the current implementation of price commitments. The main reason is that the minimum price under the price commitment has seriously deviated from the market level price, and new situations such as the inability to fully predict the business model when negotiating and signing agreements have emerged. In this regard, we hope that the European side will make appropriate adjustments to the minimum price level in accordance with the current market conditions, and create conditions for the continued and stable implementation of price commitments in a reasonable manner. China is willing to work closely with the European side to properly resolve any problems arising from the implementation of the price commitment through friendly consultations.
Regarding the decline in China's photovoltaic exports to the EU. The EU trade restriction measures have affected my country's photovoltaic exports to a certain extent, but the main reason for the decline in exports is the gradual cancellation of incentive policies for photovoltaic applications by EU member states, which has caused severe market shrinkage, and China's export volume has fallen and export prices have fallen. The EU market has fallen from 22.4GW, when photovoltaic installed capacity peaked in 2011, to 8GW in 2015. In 2015, within the scope of price commitments, my country exported 3.46GW to the EU, worth 1.785 billion euros.
Overall, the current global photovoltaic market has undergone major changes. China has become the world’s largest photovoltaic market, the Asia-Pacific market has become diversified, and the shrinking EU photovoltaic market has declined in importance in the global market. If the EU continues to maintain restrictive measures, the contraction will be worsened, and it will also be detrimental to the EU's long-term climate and energy interests. It is hoped that the EU will terminate the photovoltaic anti-dumping and countervailing measures as soon as possible, so that the photovoltaic market will return to a normal state and truly achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.