China's solar industry is a poster child for the countrya??s economic rise over the last four decades. The output of Chinese solar grew by 76% annually between 2004 and 2013, and by 2019 Chinese firms accounted for 63% of all solar panels produced worldwide. At the same time, the cost of solar has fallen by over 90%, making it competitive with fossil fuels. This column shows that local government subsidies to produce, install and perform solar R&D were a major cause of the industrya??s explosive growth. The findings highlight that green industrial policies pursued at the national level can become a powerful means of slowing global warming.

---

6 March 2026

---

VoxEU

---

https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/ray-hope-rise-solar-energy-china

This Blog is published under the centre's Growth programme, Green Transition programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Clean growth