China’s Ministry of Commerce has proposed adding 12 solar manufacturing technologies to its catalogue of technologies that are banned or restricted for export.
The announcement, dated October 16, covers polysilicon, wafer and cell production. Items named include fluidised-bed polysilicon processes above set capacity thresholds, production of wafers 70 micrometres thick or thinner, edge-passivation technology for crystalline silicon cells, and perovskite and perovskite-silicon tandem cell and module production, plus the equipment-making know-how that goes with each.
The ministry also proposes temporary pre-export registration for the technologies in question. Exporters who bundle technology with overseas production line deployment, installation, commissioning or upgrades would need a technology export licence.
MOFCOM cited national security, since solar is increasingly used in aerospace, defence and unmanned systems, and the need to oversee exports that come packaged with overseas line services. It said the controls are narrow: technologies below the thresholds, and equipment not on the list, can still be exported freely.
Trade outlets report that public comment runs to November 15. Analysts quoted by PV Tech describe the approach as threshold-based rather than a blanket restriction of the whole supply chain.
Source: PV Tech; Mercom India.
