China Brushes Off Western Protest With New Ming Yang Support 明阳获巨额融资 表明中国不理会西方反对
If China plans to cut back its subsidies to its alternate power sector in response to complaints from the West, it sure isn’t showing its intentions in a new announcement about a massive new loan support program for leading wind power equipment maker Ming Yang. (company announcement) According to the announcement, China Development Bank, a major government policy lender, will provide Ming Yang with up to $5 billion in financing to help its customers both at home and abroad purchase its wind generation equipment. This is exactly the kind of state-backed subsidy that is at the center of a debate in both the US and Europe over solar energy, which has seen Western governments finally sit up and take notice of China’s massive support for its alternate energy sector. Punitive tariffs against China’s solar sector look almost inevitable as a result of Beijing’s huge support policies (previous post), and this kind of announcement of yet even more support for Ming Yang, even though its focus is wind and not solar power, will hardly help China’s case if it really wants to avoid such punitive tariffs, which would send a chill through its solar firms already suffering through their worst-ever downturn. If this kind of high-profile announcement is Beijing’s way of saying it has no intent to stop offering strong backing for its alternative energy makers, I would look for new punitive tariffs to come sooner rather than later and for a drawn-out standoff as neither the West nor China yields to pressure to compromise. Of course, there’s also the possibility that Ming Yang’s announcement is just very poorly timed, and China might still be willing to curb its support for its solar energy firms. Time will tell. Meantime, one of the many struggling solar firms, Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) has just issued updated guidance that is very mixed. (company announcement) It says it will meet its unit sales targets for the third quarter, but that its margins will come in well below previous guidance due to stiff competition that has resulted in sharply falling prices. All this means the crisis could be easing, but it’s not over yet and it could heat up all over again if either the US or Europe issues punitive tariffs.
Bottom line: A new announcement of massive state loan support for a top Chinese wind power firm indicates China will keep strongly supporting its alternate energy sector despite Western protests.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ More Solar Woes With Plunging Prices
◙ US Congress Turns Up Heat in China Solar Debate
◙ Tech, Environmental Issues Cast New Clouds Over Solar Firms
