Starting from April 1, 2026, the value-added tax export rebate for photovoltaic and other products will be officially cancelled, and the industry will bid farewell to the long-standing "tax rebate dependence". Industry insiders believe that although the adjustment of the tax rebate policy may push up the export costs of related products in the short term, in the long run, it will promote enterprises to shift from "low price internalization" to high-quality, high value-added competition, and help China's photovoltaic industry build a more sustainable competitiveness in the global market. The timely adjustment of export tax rebate for photovoltaic exports refers to a system of exempting and refunding value-added tax and consumption tax levied domestically on exported goods. This system complies with WTO rules and is an internationally recognized practice. For a long time, China has implemented export tax rebate policies for most products and made timely adjustments in response to the needs of economic and social development. In January of this year, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued a notice clarifying that from April 1, 2026, the value-added tax export rebate for photovoltaic and other products will be cancelled, and the value-added tax export rebate for battery products will be cancelled in two years. Li Xianzhong, Director of the Comprehensive Department of the Ministry of Finance, stated at the press conference of the State Council Information Office on January 20 that this is a further policy adjustment based on the actual situation in China, on the basis of the downward adjustment of export tax rebate rates for photovoltaic, battery and other products in December 2024 (from 13% to 9%). After years of continuous development, China's photovoltaic industry has grown from small to large and from large to strong, and has become a strategic emerging industry with global leading advantages from end to end. According to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, by 2025, China's production capacity of polycrystalline silicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules will account for 96.0%, 96.2%, 91.3%, and 80.1% of the global total, respectively. The photovoltaic industry chain will dominate the world. Some analysts believe that canceling export tax rebates for advantageous industries is conducive to more efficient allocation of fiscal resources, using fiscal funds to key development points and urgent needs of the people, and enabling fiscal funds to play a greater role. In recent years, China's photovoltaic industry has achieved leapfrog development in terms of scale, technology, market, and application, and its global leading advantage has been continuously consolidated to avoid "internal competition and external expansion". But while acknowledging the achievements, we must also be aware that the industry is currently in a period of deep adjustment, the contradiction between supply and demand mismatch has not been resolved, and "involution" competition still needs to be addressed. When interpreting the new export tax rebate regulations, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association mentioned that since 2024, China's photovoltaic products have faced increasingly fierce vicious competition in overseas markets, with export prices continuing to decline, showing a trend of "increasing quantity and decreasing price". During the export process, some enterprises not only engage in low price competition, but also convert export tax refunds into bargaining space for external parties, resulting in the transfer of fiscal funds originally used to offset domestic value-added tax burdens to overseas purchasers in the bargaining process. Not only does it cause profit loss for domestic enterprises, but it also increases the risk of trade frictions. The China Photovoltaic Industry Association believes that timely reduction or cancellation of export tax rebates for photovoltaic products can help promote the rational return of foreign market prices and reduce the probability of trade frictions. According to a research report by CITIC Securities, reducing export tax rebate rates for China's advantageous industries can help prevent "internal competition and external expansion" and enhance the profitability of export products. Starting a new stage of high-quality development, in accordance with the "dual carbon" strategy, China will achieve its carbon peak target during the 15th Five Year Plan period. The photovoltaic industry, as a key force in achieving the "dual carbon" goal, is currently in a critical period of transition from quantitative expansion to qualitative leap. According to a research report by CITIC Securities, in the long run, the adjustment of export tax rebates is conducive to accelerating the clearance of production capacity in domestic photovoltaic and other industries, and promoting the development of related domestic enterprises towards high value-added product exports. At the "Review of the Development of the Photovoltaic Industry in 2025 and Outlook for the Situation in 2026" seminar hosted by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association on February 5th, Liu Shijin, former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, stated that although green industries such as photovoltaics are facing short-term supply-demand imbalances, they still have broad space from the perspective of achieving the "dual carbon" goal and global energy transformation in the medium and long term; The industry needs to maintain innovation vitality while promoting dynamic balance between supply and demand through establishing new power systems, improving carbon market mechanisms, and optimizing industrial governance. In the above seminar, Wang Bohua, consultant of China Photovoltaic Industry Association, said that the photovoltaic industry has bid farewell to export tax rebate dividends and entered a new stage of market driven competition, and the competition mode has shifted from "low price internal volume" to "high-quality" competition. In the short term, it may lead to industry pains, but in the long run, it will force technological innovation, optimize the competitive landscape, and promote China's photovoltaic industry to build a more sustainable competitiveness in the global market. This should be the necessary path for the photovoltaic industry to mature