China will remove value-added export rebates for PV products from April 1, 2026, while battery rebates will be reduced in anticipation of a complete phase-out, raising export costs for manufacturers and potentially pushing shipments to early 2026.
China will abolish export value-added (VAT) rebates for photovoltaic products from April 1, 2026, according to a joint notice released on January 9 by the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China and the State Tax Administration.
As a result of the policy adjustment, VAT export discounts for solar products will be completely abolished from April 1, 2026. For battery products, the export discount rate will be reduced from 9% to 6% between April 1 and December 31, 2026, before being completely abolished from January 1, 2027.
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Published product listings show that the solar category includes monocrystalline silicon wafers greater than 6 inches in diameter, both above and below 220 micrometers thick, that are doped for use in the electronics industry. Industry sources note that most mainstream PV wafers currently produced fall within this definition. The list also includes unassembled solar cells and finished photovoltaic modules.
The battery category extends beyond lithium-ion batteries and battery packs to include other energy storage technologies, such as all-vanadium redox flow batteries. It also includes key upstream materials used in lithium-based batteries, including lithium hexafluorophosphate, lithium manganate, lithium cobalt oxide and lithium nickel cobalt-manganese oxides.
This is the second major adjustment in just over a year to China’s export rebate regime for solar and battery products. In the previous round, announced on November 15, 2024 and implemented from December 1, 2024, export rebates for selected refined oil products, solar equipment, batteries and certain non-metallic mineral products were reduced from 13% to 9%.
Market analysts say the latest move will significantly increase export costs for Chinese PV and battery manufacturers. However, with a transition period of roughly three months before the new policy takes effect, some expect a surge in outbound shipments in the first quarter of 2026 as companies accelerate exports ahead of the deadline.
Over the longer term, analysts argue that a rollback of export tax incentives will likely reinforce China’s broader industrial policy goals, driving consolidation, technological modernization and a shift to higher-quality, more sustainable manufacturing rather than volume-driven export growth.
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