Wang Baixing, Chairman of Zhongli Group, attended the 2016 “China Poverty Alleviation Day” Forum.

On October 16–17, the “2016 China Poverty Alleviation Day Forum on County‑Level Development and Poverty Eradication” was held at the Beijing Convention Center. Wang Baixing, Chairman of Zhongli Technology Group, delivered a keynote address on behalf of the “Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation Industry Alliance (in preparation),” introducing an innovative model of “Smart Photovoltaics + Tech‑Driven Agriculture.”

Wang Baixing began by highlighting Zhongli’s longstanding contributions to poverty‑alleviation projects. Over the years, the company has invested in six industrial enterprises across western China—regions including Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Gansu—totaling more than RMB 5 billion and creating over 4,500 jobs for local communities. In 2013, in the immediate aftermath of the Ya’an earthquake in Sichuan, Zhongli donated 500 small photovoltaic power systems, valued at over RMB 7 million, providing critical emergency lighting for rescue operations. Wang Baixing emphasized that sustainable poverty reduction hinges on fostering industries that generate self‑sustaining economic growth—a “blood‑making” approach to poverty alleviation—and that this should be anchored in the national policy of “prioritizing education to lift people out of poverty.” In addition, Zhongli contributed RMB 30 million toward the construction of a school in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province.

Wang Baixing has promoted Zhongli’s “Smart Photovoltaics + Tech‑Driven Agriculture” model, pioneering village‑level “photovoltaic poverty‑alleviation farms” that advance both solar energy and agriculture in tandem. The project employs cutting‑edge technologies—such as 10‑meter pile spacing, module heights exceeding 4 meters, and tilted mounting of individual panels—to accommodate large‑scale agricultural mechanization while ensuring that crops beneath the solar arrays receive more than 75% of the available sunlight, thus delivering highly efficient poverty‑reduction outcomes through the integration of photovoltaics and facility‑based agriculture. By adhering to the rigorous technical and quality standards of the Photovoltaic Leader program, this approach provides stable livelihoods for impoverished villages and maximizes the economic returns of poverty‑alleviation initiatives.

The Zhongli “Smart Photovoltaics + Tech‑Driven Agriculture” project has pioneered an innovative, high‑efficiency approach to poverty alleviation through the integration of agriculture and solar energy. At this forum, it received strong endorsement from leaders of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation, agricultural experts, and the Party secretaries and county heads of numerous impoverished counties. On the afternoon of the 17th, during the signing ceremony for letters of intent, Zhongli entered into agreements with 15 impoverished counties under the “County‑Wide Poverty Alleviation through Photovoltaics Plus Agriculture” initiative, committing to comprehensive, county‑level poverty reduction. This made it the most heavily signed and demonstrably effective model of targeted poverty alleviation at this year’s County‑Level Development and Poverty Eradication Forum held on China’s National Poverty Alleviation Day.

Wang Baixing has put forward a preliminary plan to establish a “Photovoltaic Poverty‑Alleviation Industry Alliance” and achieve poverty reduction through a county‑wide, cluster‑based approach to the photovoltaic industry: To promote efficient village‑level poverty alleviation models integrating photovoltaics with facility agriculture, Zhongli can provide patented technical standards for “smart photovoltaics plus high‑tech agriculture,” conduct unified project procurement, and adopt a support‑enterprise model that offers preferential pricing. This will ensure that the cost of photovoltaic–facility‑agriculture projects remains no higher than that of conventional photovoltaic power plants, enabling poverty‑alleviation enterprises to turn a profit while keeping project operating costs low, thereby guaranteeing that impoverished villages can achieve sustainable poverty reduction and prosperity through 20 years of industrial returns.

Funding for village-level photovoltaic poverty‑alleviation projects will come from a joint investment of RMB 30–40 billion by consortium enterprises, which will serve as the junior‑tranche sponsors of a “Photovoltaic Poverty‑Alleviation Industry Fund.” The aim is to secure, with the assistance of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, priority access to commercial banks and state‑owned institutions, thereby scaling the fund to RMB 30 billion. This fund will provide 20% of the equity capital for village‑level PV projects, while the three major policy banks will extend 80% of the financing in the form of poverty‑alleviation loans. Such an arrangement could enable approximately 50% of China’s impoverished villages—around 60,000 in total—to achieve stable, 20‑year returns through a “PV + agriculture” model, all without requiring any government funding at the local or central levels, thus realizing targeted poverty alleviation.

Finally, Wang Boxing expressed his hope that, under the leadership of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and the China Association for Promoting Volunteer Service in Poverty Alleviation, a “Photovoltaic Poverty‑Alleviation Industry Alliance” and a “Photovoltaic Poverty‑Alleviation Industry Fund” would be established in an orderly manner. By leveraging the photovoltaic industry’s stable returns over the past two decades, these initiatives would help impoverished areas achieve poverty reduction and prosperity. He also believes that this effort would promote the sound development of the photovoltaic sector and enable the industry to make its due contribution to the decisive battle against poverty by 2020.