The Long-Distance Runner That Successfully Rides Out Market Cycles

In 2025, the Fortune Global 500 list was unveiled, spotlighting 500 of the world’s most influential companies. Although the number of Chinese firms on the list has fluctuated in recent years, their overall quality, international reach, and innovation capacity have all shown remarkable maturity and strategic initiative. These enterprises are shifting from fast followers to global leaders, becoming indispensable forces in the international business landscape.Among the Chinese companies featured, Tongwei has appeared for three consecutive years. Tongwei’s significance lies not only in its rarity and distinctive positioning but also in its 43-year legacy of steady growth. Beyond its uniqueness, the company has embedded three strategic pillars into its DNA: innovation-driven growth, a long-term vision, and a global co-development mindset.Following this roadmap, Tongwei has emerged as a model of how a Chinese corporation can rise through a tightly integrated, full-value-chain operation. It is the only company to rank on the Fortune Global 500 for three years running in both the solar photovoltaic (PV) and aquaculture sectors.Tongwei’s story began 43 years ago in Meishan, Sichuan, the hometown of the celebrated Song-dynasty poet Su Dongpo.

Su’s famous work Reminiscing at Red Cliff could well mirror Tongwei’s own journey: from a humble riverbank start to a multinational giant with nearly 400 subsidiaries worldwide and a workforce of about 60,000. Over more than a decade of focused investment in solar energy, Tongwei has built an irreplaceable competitive moat through technological innovation plus vertical integration, becoming a global leader in aquatic feed, high-purity polysilicon, and solar cells.The numbers speak even louder. According to Tongwei Co., Ltd.’s 2024 annual report:Upstream: Tongwei holds the world’s #1 market share in high-purity polysilicon.Midstream: Based on InfoLink Consulting data, it has ranked No.1 in global solar cell shipments for eight consecutive years and became the first company to surpass a cumulative 300 GW of solar cell shipments.Downstream: Tongwei’s solar modules are now top-five globally in module shipments.As a technology-driven innovator, Tongwei fully leverages the dual momentum of the domestic Chinese market and international opportunities, achieving rapid yet sustainable growth.Strong Domestic Base.Within China, Tongwei has accelerated expansion by engaging deeply with the Unified National Market.

In 2024, its high-efficiency, high-reliability solar modules and powerful vertically integrated supply chain enabled the company to secure multiple gigawatt-level projects from central state-owned enterprises, provincial energy groups, and leading private firms. Through co-creation with customers, resource integration, and product development, Tongwei firmly ranks among the top players in China’s distributed solar market—laying a solid foundation for overseas growth.Expanding Global Footprint.Internationally, Tongwei’s PV modules now reach 70+ countries and regions, with overseas shipments in 2024 nearly doubling year-over-year, breaking into multiple gigawatt-scale projects worldwide. This stellar performance not only drives new revenue growth but also diversifies risk and reduces dependence on any single market.A Triple Appearance on the Fortune Global 500.Tongwei first entered the Fortune Global 500 in 2023, becoming the only company in the world to represent both the solar and aquaculture industries. It maintained its ranking in 2024 and again in 2025, underscoring a strategic operating model anchored in long-termism and innovation.For Tongwei, the past two decades of China’s PV industry have been a true test of resilience—marked by moments of rapid ascent and periods of intense challenge.

The solar sector’s cyclical nature is a crucible: some players exit, others barely survive, and a select few transform crises into opportunities to leap forward.Those who remain have endured a “nine-lives” trial and emerged with genuine capabilities. In the relentless race of PV development, technology leadership is the ultimate battleground. Whoever defines the standards and holds the technical high ground wins the future.As one of the world’s key participants and drivers of the global solar industry, Tongwei treats technological innovation as its core shield against risk and the key to strengthening competitive advantage. Over the years, it has built a robust innovation moat and a formidable risk-resistant technology wall, ensuring long-term leadership in the global renewable-energy market.In June 2024, Tongwei officially opened its Global Innovation & R&D Center, dedicated to developing high-efficiency crystalline-silicon solar cells and high-reliability, high-efficiency module products. The center’s research spans all major next-generation photovoltaic (PV) technologies and has already achieved a series of core breakthroughs across TNC, THC, TBC, and perovskite/crystalline-silicon tandem pathways.Tongwei pioneered the industry-first PECVD production route, pushing TOPCon cell mass-production efficiency to 26.9%. Its TNC-G12 66-cell module set a record at 778.5 W, while THC modules have broken the world power record nine times, reaching 790.8 W.In May 2025, Tongwei globally launched the TNC 2.0 module, built on the core principles of high efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.

This next-gen product integrates four key proprietary technologies—908 (0BB interconnection), TPE, Poly Tech, and advanced screen-printing—setting a new benchmark for module performance.The R&D Center’s latest milestone is an ultra-high bifacial solar module based on Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) technology, with results published in the leading journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. This breakthrough achieved a 94.3% cell bifaciality and 91.7% module bifaciality, underscoring TOPCon’s immense potential and positioning Tongwei as a frontrunner in high-efficiency bifacial PV solutions.Industry Leadership & Collaborative Innovation.As a Fortune Global 500 company and global PV leader, Tongwei recognizes that internal innovation alone is not enough. It has co-founded the Sichuan Crystalline-Silicon Photovoltaic Innovation Center alongside top upstream and downstream players. This initiative fosters a high-quality PV industrial ecosystem through a government–industry–academia–research–capital–application collaborative model, accelerating the path from prototype to product to market.

The center targets critical challenges: eliminating technology bottlenecks, strengthening the industrial value chain, and modernizing institutional mechanisms to keep pace with rapid PV growth. By speeding up the commercialization of R&D outcomes, Tongwei promotes the healthy development of the entire solar supply chain, which it sees as the only viable solution to current industry headwinds.Tongwei believes the true long-term demand is global energy transition, not destructive price wars. Involution is never the answer; innovation is the sharpest tool to break through cyclical downturns and the key to PV’s future prosperity.Enduring Strategy: The “Marathon Runner” Mindset.History shows that most Fortune Global 500 companies succeed not through a “100-meter sprint,” but through decades of consistent endurance. Tongwei embodies this marathon strategy:Holding firm to its core business tracks through industry turbulence.Prioritizing long-term value over short-term gains.Maintaining a clear, disciplined development rhythm despite external temptations.This discipline stems from a keen understanding of what to do—and what not to do. Tongwei pairs a macro view of global energy transition with precise internal strategy control.

Massive Global Opportunity.According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 requires a cumulative 18,200 GW of global PV capacity, with average annual growth of 615 GW—and even this is considered conservative. Some projections estimate annual new PV installations must reach 1,500–2,000 GW to hit the target.As of 2024, the world added about 500 GW of new PV capacity, with total installed capacity around 2,000 GW—still far from the goal. Today, over half of global energy consumption remains non-electric, and in China and many countries that share can exceed 60%, dominated by fossil fuels. To meet carbon-neutral goals by 2050–2060, China alone needs 600–800 GW or more of new annual PV installations starting now. Compared to the ultimate market potential, the solar sector could grow by 10x to 20x or beyond.The PV industry, Tongwei notes, is only in its “teenage years”; current challenges are temporary.Resilience Through Innovation.

National People’s Congress Deputy and Tongwei Group Chairman Liu Hanyuan observes that every industry experiences seasonal ups and downs. Over time, after the inevitable “big wave sifts the sand,” the market regains balance. Whether at peaks or troughs, building a strong, well-managed enterprise is the best risk defense.This philosophy permeates Tongwei’s operations:Daily perseverance drives daily technological progress.Steadfast determination yields breakthrough innovations.At Tongwei, innovation is not confined to executives or engineers; employees across all business units pursue continuous micro-innovation—refining processes, improving efficiency, and elevating management practices.

This culture is supported by a robust incentive system.Guided by these mechanisms, Tongwei has:Focused on aquatic feed for over 40 years, reaching global leadership.Spent nearly 20 years advancing solar PV, continually innovating and streamlining operationsBuilt world-leading businesses in high-purity polysilicon and high-efficiency solar cells, while driving rapid growth in module production.These efforts ensure Tongwei remains a dynamic, resilient organization, brimming with vitality no matter the adjustments or challenges ahead.Three consecutive appearances on the Fortune Global 500 are both a milestone and a new starting point. Facing global economic uncertainty, market fluctuations, and intense technology competition, Tongwei aims to meet these new challenges with an open, globally integrated approach, continuing to shape the future of renewable energy worldwide.