China’s newly installed photovoltaic solar capacity stood at 34.54 gigawatts and cumulative photovoltaic capacity reached 77.42 gigawatts by the end of 2016, both ranking first in the world, according to National Energy Administration.

In 2016, the focus of photovoltaic power generation shifted to the central and eastern parts of the country. The newly installed photovoltaic capacity in the region beyond the northwest part of China has reached 24.8 gigawatts, accounting for 72 percent of the nationwide total. Moreover, there are nine provinces in the central and eastern regions that surpassed one gigawatt.