China to crack down on illegal price gouging in PV industry

BEIJING -- China has promised a crackdown on irregularities in the photovoltaic (PV) sector to tame price hikes, according to a guideline released on Wednesday.

In recent times, several links in the PV industry have seen volatile price fluctuations, causing illegal activities such as hoarding for profit, according to the guideline, jointly released by three government organs including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Related departments are urged to tighten supervision, the guideline said. Illegal activities such as price gouging, monopolies, and the production and sale of fake and shoddy products will be subject to a harsh clampdown.

It also encouraged enterprises to accelerate the development and upgrading of technologies to better cater to market demand, as part of efforts to promote the high-quality development of the industry.

China's PV sector posted robust growth in the first half of this year with major links of the industrial chain registering year-on-year growth rates of over 45 percent, data showed.