China Daily - 07.08.2019

BUSINESS

16 | Wednesday, August 7, 2019 CHINA DAILY

Nation’s PV companies find

success in overseas markets

Demand for key ingredients, associated

products increase amid green push

By LIU YUKUN
[email protected]

Production and sales of Chinese
photovoltaic products saw robust
growth during the first six months
of this year, on the back of strong
performance in overseas markets,
an industry expert said.
Production volumes of polycrys-
talline silicon, a key ingredient of
PV products and other associated
products like silicon wafers, mod-
ules and cells, registered an
impressive uptick, according to
data from the China Photovoltaic
Industry Association.
Polycrystalline silicon output
totaled 155,000 metric tons in the
first half, up 8.4 percent year-on-
year. Silicon wafer output totaled 63
gigawatts, up 26 percent year-on-
year, while PV cell output hit 51 GW,
an increase of 30.8 percent year-on-
year. Production of PV modules
grew by 11.9 percent and reached 47
GW, with most of the orders coming
from overseas markets, data from
the association show.
“Exports to overseas markets,
especially Europe and some other
emerging markets like Vietnam have
shown a sharp growth,” said Wang
Bohua, deputy head of the associa-

tion, at a recent industry conference.

Wu Shengwu, deputy head for the

electronic information division of

the Ministry of Industry and Infor-

mation Technology, said overseas

markets have been the mainstay for

Chinese PV companies in the first

half with exports of PV products,

including silicon wafers, cells and

modules, totaling $10.61 billion, up

31.7 percent year-on-year.

Silicon wafer exports reached

$950 million in the first half, down

33.8 percent from the figure a year

ago. Exports of PV cells and modules

hit $660 million and $9 billion, up

58.2 percent and 45.1 percent

respectively.

Wang pointed out that despite a drop

in value terms, silicon wafer exports

saw an increase in shipment terms.

Silicon wafer exports stood at 2.

billion units (about 11.6 GW) in the

first six months, up 1.2 percent year-

on-year. Export volume for PV cells

and PV modules were 5.3 GW and

36.1 GW, up 157.9 percent and 102.

percent respectively.

“Chinese PV products exports

have become more diversified in

terms of the geographic destina-

tions for shipments, with the focus

shifting from Asia to more interna-

tional destinations,” said Wang.

Among the top 10 countries for

Chinese PV exports, four were from

Asia, down by two compared with

last year. There were three Europe-

an countries in the list, compared

with none earlier, while there were

two from Latin America, the same as

last year.

Total exports of PV products to

the top 10 countries in the first six

months accounted for 68.3 percent

of China’s total exports in the sector,

down 3.6 percentage points from

the same period last year.

Wang said the drop suggested an

increasing variety in destination

countries for China’s PV product

exports.

Among the top 10 countries with

the most PV product exports from

China, Vietnam surpassed India

and became China’s largest overseas

market, with exports of around

$1.39 billion. The figures represent-

ed a fivefold growth from the level

seen last year, and accounted for 13.

percent of China’s total exports in

the sector.

Wang said the rise in shipments

to Vietnam was mainly due to the

local government’s favorable meas-

ures for setting up PV projects.

Han Xiaoping, chief researcher at

energy analysis website China5e,

said a decline in China’s PV product

prices and lower production costs

have made Chinese products

attractive to several developing

countries. Vietnam has also seen an

increasing demand for clean energy

products, he said.

Earlier in 2017, Vietnam had

announced a feed-in tariff plan to

support solar projects. Under the

plan, Vietnam Electricity Corp was

obligated to buy all power from

solar plants that had connected to

grids, at 10 US cents per kilowatt.

The plan is valid only for solar pro-

jects that were put into operation by

the end of June this year.

The European market also saw a

rebound. China’s export of PV prod-

ucts to European markets was $3.

billion, up 29.2 percent year-on-

year. Exports of PV products to the

Netherlands rose to $1.19 billion, up

5.9 times that in the same period

last year, making the Netherlands

the largest market in Europe for

Chinese PV products.

Han said there has been a long-

lasting demand for clean energy like

solar power in many European

countries.

“In the past, Chinese PV compa-

nies faced great barriers in export-

ing their products to European

markets, due to tariffs of up to 64.

percent. The tariffs were revoked

last September,” Wang said.

Since 2013, the European Union

had applied anti-dumping and anti-

subsidy measures for Chinese solar

products, and set a minimum

import price.

Returning talents top

picks for employers in

China, says new study

By REN XIAOJIN

[email protected]

Demand from Chinese compa-

nies for skilled and highly educat-

ed overseas returnees has

intensified as China continues to

deepen its reform and opening-

up, a new study said.

China’s overseas returnees, or

those educated or with work expe-

rience overseas, are more likely to

get a higher income versus their

counterparts in other Asian coun-

tries and regions, international

recruitment firm Hays said in its

latest report. The report said 61 per-

cent of surveyed Chinese compa-

nies are willing to offer overseas

returnees a premium salary.

Simon Lance, managing direct-

or of Hays in China, said the sur-

vey findings are a broad

reflection of the current trends

from the country’s social and eco-

nomic transformation.

“Willingness to offer overseas

returnees a premium salary shows

the open attitude by Chinese

mainland businesses, which is

what the country needs as it fur-

ther opens up its economy,” said

Lance.

“Thanks to the reform and

opening-up policy, China

opened its economy to the out-

side world, boosting Chinese

businesses’ need for returning

talents. They will need more

overseas returnees as the coun-

try’s economy keeps growing

and as it further opens the econ-

omy. More talents, meanwhile,

will move back,” he said.

To enhance competitiveness, a

number of Chinese cities have

jumped into a fierce “war” for tal-

ents with attractive financial sup-

port, favorable hukou (household

registration) policies and other

subsidies.

Shenzhen in Guangdong prov-

ince, for example, has started its

“peacock project” to attract over-

seas returnees since 2011, and is

granting rewards of 3 million

yuan ($432,000) to high-end

overseas talents in industries that

are facing an acute shortage of

skilled workers.

In June, Guangdong announced

a policy to reduce taxes for over-

seas talents and the much-needed

skilled workers planning to move

into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-

Macao Greater Bay Area.

“The Chinese immigrants over-

seas and students overseas are the

emerging power of China’s future

economic development,” said

Wang Huiyao, founder and direct-

or of the Center for China and Glo-

balization, a nongovernment

think tank in Beijing. “The talent

war is getting more and more

fierce. In Silicon Valley, interna-

tional talents count for 50 percent

of its total talent pool, but in

Customers rejoice as domestic instant

noodle makers move up the ladder

By CHEN MEILING
[email protected]

Happy days are here again for
Chinese instant noodle makers, as
products with better taste, healthier
recipes and more innovative cook-
ing techniques are gaining in popu-
larity. Though the product had been
largely phased out in the Chinese
market due to the consumption
upgrade in recent years, sales of
such products have started rising
again, an industry report said.
Total consumption of instant noo-
dles worldwide reached 103.6 bil-
lion units in 2018, of which about
40.25 billion units or 39 percent
came from China, according to a
report from consultancy firm Ries
Consulting. The second and third-
largest markets were Indonesia and
India, whose consumption account-
ed for about 12 percent and 5.8 per-
cent, it said.
Sales of instant noodles in China
began to drop in 2013 and reached a
low point of 38.5 billion units in
2016, data from the World Instant
Noodles Association showed. The
market warmed up last year and
will continue to grow in subsequent
years as demand from both high-
end and low-income consumers is

expected to expand, said Zhang Yun,

global partner of Ries Consulting.

On the one hand, consumers in

third and fourth-tier cities showed a

larger interest in commodities with

lower prices such as instant noodles.

But on the other hand, many related

companies are putting more resour-

ces in improving taste, cooking

methods and nutritional function,

with an eye on consumers who look

for quality lifestyles, according to

Zhang.

“Though at an initial stage, Chi-

nese instant noodles makers have

invested more in research, develop-

ment and marketing of innovative

products, and it will become a

future trend,” he said. “It aims to

change the stereotype of instant

noodles as unhealthy, unpalatable

and low end among the public.”

Tangdaren, a brand under Uni-

President China Holdings Ltd, a

major beverage and instant noodle

maker in China, for example, has

said that it would make its soups

taste like those from a noodle res-

taurant. Jinmailang, a domestic

instant noodle maker, uses special

freezing and steaming techniques to

make its products more similar to

freshly cooked dishes.

Though prices of such innovative

instant noodles often double, they

have started to become popular

with white-collar workers in the

first and second-tier cities, due to

their advantages over noodle res-

taurants and takeout food in price

and convenience, Zhang said.

Guo Ying, 22, who works for a

long-term rental apartment opera-

tor in Shenzhen, said she buys

instant noodles packed in boxes

online about twice a month, each

costing about 100 yuan ($14.5). Each

bowl costs about six yuan.

“Dishes at surrounding restau-

rants are expensive and not tasty.

And I’m too busy or too tired to

cook. So boiling a bowl of instant

noodles is the easiest way to fill my

stomach,” she said.

She said compared with instant

noodles she ate when attending

middle school, nowadays the prod-

ucts are much better. “The noodles

are more chewable and I can smell

the fragrances in the soup.”

Revenue of major instant noodles

producers also saw growth in 2018.

According to the annual report of

Uni-President China, its revenue

from instant noodles grew by 5.

percent to 8.4 billion yuan last year.

Sales of Tangdaren, its middle and

high-end brand, contributed about

30 to 40 percent of the total revenue.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding

Corp, Hong Kong-listed food and

beverage company, said revenue

from instant noodles surpassed

23.9 billion yuan in 2018, up 5.

percent year-on-year, among

which, high-price products grew

10.6 percent.

Zhao Xiaoma, executive director

of China Insights Consultancy, told

Chinese financial news outlet Yicai

that companies should take efforts

to enter the high-end and ultra high-

end market to promote upgrading

of the industry.

They can innovate in marketing,

such as sponsoring renowned inter-

net or TV programs, or using new

media such as livestreaming to

expand influence among younger

consumers, Zhao said, adding they

can also try to explore overseas mar-

kets.

An employee checks photovoltaic panels at a power station in Aswan, Egypt. The project was built by major energy equipment maker TBEA
from China, and is expected to help Egypt lift its proportion of renewable energy to 20 percent of total electricity generation by 2020.XINHUA

A consumer is photographed with the locally rated top 10 instant noodle brands at an industry expo in

Shanghai.YIN LIQIN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE

Zhongguancun (China’s technolo-

gy hub in Beijing), the ratio is only

1 percent.”

About 53 percent of the sur-

veyed respondents moved back

for opportunities to progress and

develop their careers in key

emerging sectors that face talent

shortages, such as the biopharma-

ceutical industry.

However, better payment was

not the sole reason for the shift,

the report said. “Being close to

family is of paramount impor-

tance to professionals who want

to return to their families as Asia

is aging rapidly.”

The survey found that 71 per-

cent of the Chinese overseas

returnee respondents regarded

family as the prime motive for

moving back to the home coun-

try, a rapid increase from the 41

percent seen in a similar Hays

survey in 2013, despite the fact

that they may not receive a pay

increase at home.

The survey found that 47 per-

cent of the overseas returnees

were expecting a salary equiva-

lent to the same they received

abroad. On the contrary, 58 per-

cent of the overseas returnees

across the whole of Asia felt that

living closer to their family was

the most compelling reason to

move back.

Overseas returnees may also

face challenges after coming

home and working for companies

at home as the corporate culture

differs, the survey said.

“Overseas returnees should do

research about their home coun-

tries’ corporate culture,” says Qu

Na, vice-president of human

resources, corporate communica-

tion and sales training at Lund-

beck China, a unit of the

Denmark-based international

pharmaceutical company.

“My suggestion is that they be

more patient and give themselves

time to understand local working

environments,” Qu said.

The Chinese

immigrants

overseas and

students overseas

are the emerging

power of China’s

future economic

development. The

talent war is getting

more and more

fierce ...”

Wang Huiyao, founder and

director of The Center for

China and Globalization