Magazine

Last edition
december 2025

Home › Policies & Regulations ›China to Scrap Export Tax Rebates on Solar PV Products from April 1, 2026

China to Scrap Export Tax Rebates on Solar PV Products from April 1, 2026

China’s decision to scrap export tax rebates on solar PV products from April 2026 and progressively cut battery rebates is set to lift global module and storage costs, triggering near-term export rushes, longer-term industry consolidation, and upward price pressure for import-dependent markets such as India.

January 12, 2026. By Mrinmoy Dey

China has announced the abolishment of export tax rebates on solar photovoltaic products from April 2026. It has also announced a phase-wise reduction in export tax rebates for batteries.

China’s Ministry of Finance has issued a notification stating, “Effective April 1, 2026, export VAT rebates for photovoltaic and other related products will be cancelled.”

Currently, the solar PV products get an export tax rebate of nine percent. It was reduced from 13 percent to nine percent in November 2024.

With this latest move, PV module prices are set to move sharply higher, with the recent surge in silver, aluminium and copper prices adding strong upward pressure. Further and sustained price increases are expected in the coming weeks. Moreover, this is expected to lead to a surge in exports before the policy takes effect, leading to a market-led increase in prices.

In the long run, this will lead to consolidation in the solar PV industry in China, with fringe players that were dependent on subsidies to remain price competitive being forced to exit.

According to the notified product lists, the solar segment spans monocrystalline silicon wafers larger than 15.24 cm in diameter, across thicknesses above and below 220 micrometres, and doped for electronic applications. Unassembled solar cells as well as completed photovoltaic modules are also included.

On the battery front, tax rebates will be reduced to six percent from nine percent from April 2026 and will be completely abolished from January 2027 onwards.

“From April 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, the VAT export tax rebate rate for battery products will be reduced from 9 percent to 6 percent; from January 1, 2027, the VAT export tax rebate for battery products will be cancelled,” mentioned the notification.

It further added that for the products subject to consumption tax among the above-mentioned products, the export consumption tax policy will not be adjusted, and the consumption tax refund (exemption) policy will continue to apply.

This signals a phase-wise cost increase in the Li-ion batteries, too! In addition to lithium-ion cells and packs, the list also covers alternative storage technologies such as all-vanadium redox flow batteries, along with critical upstream materials for lithium-based chemistries, including lithium hexafluorophosphate, lithium manganate, lithium cobalt oxide, and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxides.

For India, the price of modules and cells is expected to rise, given that the wafer price is expected to rise. While India has attained self-sufficiency in solar PV modules and is rapidly ramping up solar cell capacity, for upstream components like wafer and polysilicon, India is heavily reliant on China!

In the BESS segment, while prices discovered in recent auctions have attracted eyeballs for the record low tariffs, the increase in price expected after this policy kicks in will put pressure on the developers.

Tags:

Policies & Regulations

Ministry of Finance, China

China Solar PV export tax rebates

Cina export tax rebates on batteries

Solar PV supply chain

China removes solar PV export tax rebates

China export VAT on battery reduced