Chinese solar stocks slump as subsidies slashed

New projects have also been paused until further notice

Shares in Chinese solar stocks have fallen following the suspension of new facilities being built and a reduction in government subsidies.

Wind and solar inverter manufacturer Sungrow Power’s stocks fell by the 10% daily limit to 12.56 yuan (£1.47), limiting a decline of 23% over the past week.

LONGi Green Energy, a manufacturer of silicon wafers, saw shares plunge by a tenth to 20.12 yuan (2.48), while solar wafer business GCL-Poly slumped by 9.2% to HK$0.79 (£0.8p).

The Chinese Government said the allocation of quotas for new projects had been paused until further notice and said clean energy tariffs will be lowered by 0.05 yuan (£0.6p) per kilowatt hour, a reduction of up to 9% in some regions.

It said the move was aimed at “promoting the solar energy sector’s sustainable development, enhancing its development quality and speeding up reduction of subsidies”.

China’s solar capacity rose to a record 53GW in 2017.

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