“The policies started in solar and are now starting to infect the higher reaches of the economy with Made in China 2025,”
said Jeremie Waterman, the president of the China Center at the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington.
“A small vibration back in China,” said Frank Haugwitz, a longtime solar industry
consultant in Beijing, “can cause an avalanche in prices around the world.”
Late last summer, Chinese officials began publicly toying with slashing the subsidies they offer domestic solar-panel buyers.
“The main subsidy is massive, below-market loans by Chinese state-owned commercial banks to finance new capacity
and also the massive ongoing losses of Chinese companies,” said Jürgen Stein, the president of American operations for SolarWorld, a big German panel maker.
But recently, Chinese companies have been building factories outside China, particularly in Malaysia and Vietnam, to bypass anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures
that the United States and European Union imposed on Chinese-made panels four years ago.