An opening ceremony for the construction of the photovoltaic module auxiliary materials supporting project of JA Solar is held in the Yiwu Economic Development Zone on June 7. [Photo/Yiwu Media Center]

Construction started on the photovoltaic module auxiliary materials supporting project of JA Solar in the Yiwu Economic Development Zone on June 7.

The Wuxi Branch of JA Solar signed the deal on Feb 23 to spend 1 billion yuan ($149.74 million) building a production base covering an area of 6.67 hectares in Yiwu. The production base's annual output will reach 10 gigawatts, aiming to meet the important auxiliary material needs of the battery module project.

The project is expected to start operating by the end of December and its annual sales revenue is expected to reach 3 billion yuan after entering full production. According to officials, all projects of JA Solar's Yiwu base will provide over 5,000 jobs for locals and achieve an annual output of 24 billion yuan.

Founded in 2005, JA Solar is a manufacturer of high-performance photovoltaic products. The company is involved in silicon wafers, cells, modules and photovoltaic power stations. It ranks second globally in terms of module shipments. The company is one of the top 500 private enterprises in China.

In March 2020, JA Solar agreed to invest 10.2 billion yuan in its photovoltaic cell and module production base in the Yiwu Economic Development Zone. The production base - the world's largest photovoltaic intelligent single-unit workshop - started operating after 142 days of construction. Its annual output exceeded 10 billion yuan in 2021.