Chart of the Day: Losses Mount at China’s Top Solar Firms

Caixin Global · Zhao Xuan; Zhang Zhengqi; Kelsey Cheng Published Nov 2 ·

Six industry leaders lost nearly 7 billion yuan in the third quarter as supply continues to overwhelm demand

1. China's biggest solar manufacturers continued to incur heavy losses in the third quarter of 2026, as persistent overcapacity outweighed efforts to cut costs. [para. 1] The six leading manufacturers—Trina Solar, Tongwei, TCL Zhonghuan, Longi, JA Solar, and Jinko Solar—posted combined net losses of nearly 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) for the July-to-September period, up from roughly 5.9 billion yuan a year earlier. [para. 2]

2. Among the six, Trina Solar reported the largest quarterly loss at 1.67 billion yuan, widening from 1.28 billion yuan a year earlier. Tongwei's loss jumped sharply to 1.64 billion yuan from 315 million yuan, while Longi's loss widened to 1.03 billion yuan from 834 million yuan. [para. 4] By contrast, TCL Zhonghuan narrowed its quarterly loss by 11.9% to 1.35 billion yuan, and Jinko Solar reduced its losses to 290 million yuan from more than 1 billion yuan a year earlier. [para. 5]

3. The uneven performance indicates that China's solar industry remains near the bottom of a downturn lasting roughly three years. Approximately 40 listed solar companies accumulated losses approaching 130 billion yuan during 2024 and 2025, following a massive expansion in manufacturing capacity that pushed prices sharply lower across the supply chain. [para. 6] China now possesses enough solar-manufacturing capacity to supply nearly twice the global demand. [para. 7] By the end of 2025, the country had more than 3.5 million metric tons of annual polysilicon capacity, 1,500 gigawatts (GW) of wafer capacity, 1,400 GW of solar-cell capacity, and 1,100 GW of module capacity, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. [para. 8] China accounted for more than 90% of global capacity for polysilicon, wafers, and cells, and over 80% for modules. [para. 9]

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