Aiko Solar, a major supplier of photovoltaic cells globally, recently announced that it will sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Jinan city in Shandong province to build a 30-gigawatt high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cell project and 30 GW of supporting modules in the Jinan Start-up Area.

With a total investment of 36 billion yuan ($5.19 billion), the project, which consists of three construction phases, is scheduled to be completed in five years. The first phase of cells and modules with solar capacities of 10 GW is scheduled to start construction in the first half of 2024.

The project adopts the latest technologies in intelligent manufacturing and aims to create a digital and smart production base for photovoltaic cells and modules.

It is the largest investment project of Aiko Solar, one of China's major vendors of PERC (passivated emitter rear cell) cells. The company has four production bases in Foshan, Yiwu, Tianjin and Zhuhai. Last year, the operating income of Aiko Solar reached 35.08 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 126.72 percent.

As a trailblazer for the high-quality development along the Yellow River, the Jinan Start-up Area was approved by the State Council in April 2021. Since its establishment, the area has introduced 138 high-end projects with a total investment of 314.4 billion yuan.

In November last year, the area issued a framework plan for seeking cooperation opportunities with partners around the world. The framework covers 25 projects with a total investment of about 122.27 billion yuan, and involves such fields as green development, new energy, intelligent manufacturing, environmental protection and finance.