China added 12.6 GW of solar power capacity in October 2025, rebounding after dipping to almost a three-year low in August. This is also a clear step up from September’s 9.66 GW, based on the National Energy Administration’s data.

Even so, October’s buildout was still well below the 20.4 GW recorded in the same month last year.

The final quarter is usually the busiest stretch for China’s solar industry, with project completions accelerating toward December. This year has looked different as the National Energy Administration and National Development and Reform Commission announced a sustainable pricing mechanism for renewable energy projects selling power to the grid through market-based bidding in each region.

That pull-forward effect left demand heavily front-loaded, contributing to a sharp slowdown over the summer, with installations only starting to pick up again from September onward.

The China Photovoltaic Industry Association had noted that solar installations will likely decline in 2025 with the introduction of market-based pricing reforms. China had relied on a feed-in tariff regime to ramp up renewable energy capacity at a staggering pace.

As of the end of October, China’s cumulative installed power generation capacity reached 3,750 GW, up 17.3% year-on-year (YoY). Of this total, solar power installed capacity was 1,140 GW, up 43.8% YoY; wind power installed capacity was 590 GW, up 21.4% YoY.

From January to October, the average cumulative utilization of power generation equipment nationwide was 2,619 hours, 260 hours lower than the same period last year.

China added 28.06 GW of solar power capacity in the third quarter of 2025, a 52% YoY decrease from 58.4 GW.

China recently unveiled its updated Nationally Determined Contributions for 2035, setting an ambitious target to expand installed wind and solar power capacity to 3.6 TW, more than six times its 2020 goal.

The new plan also seeks to make new energy vehicles mainstream in new car sales, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7–10% from peak levels, and raise the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30%.