UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 20-F

 

 

Commission file number 001-33469

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Cayman Islands

 

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

 

No. 3055 Middle Fuxing Road
Baoding 071051, People’s Republic of China

 

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

Zongwei Li
Telephone: (86 312) 8929-700
Facsimile: (86 312) 8929-800
No. 3055 Middle Fuxing Road

Baoding 071051, People’s Republic of China

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the Issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: 156,205,313 Ordinary Shares

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  þ Yes     o No

 

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  o Yes     þ No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  þ Yes     o  No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  o Yes     o No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

 

 

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.  o Item 17     o Item 18

 

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934).  o Yes     þ No

 

(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court.  o Yes     o No

 

 

YINGLI GREEN ENERGY HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED

 

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 20-F

 

Table of Contents

 

CONVENTIONS THAT APPLY TO THIS ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 20-F

 

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this annual report to:

 

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

 

 

The following tables present the selected consolidated financial information of us and our predecessor, Tianwei Yingli. You should read this information together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes and information under “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” included elsewhere in this annual report. The historical results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in any future periods.

 

The selected consolidated statement of operations data (other than ADS data) and other consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 and 2010 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

 

The selected consolidated statement of operations data (other than ADS data) and other consolidated financial data for the period from August 7, 2006 (date of inception) through December 31, 2006, the year ended December 31, 2007, and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements (as adjusted to reflect our

adoption of ASC Topic 810-10, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an amendment of ARB No. 51”) not included in this annual report. The selected consolidated statement of operations data and other consolidated financial data for the period from January 1, 2006 through September 4, 2006 and have been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of our predecessor, Tianwei Yingli (as adjusted to reflect our adoption of ASC Topic 810-10, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an amendment of ARB No. 51”), not included in this annual report.

 

The consolidated financial statements of each of Yingli Green Energy and Tianwei Yingli have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The net income (loss) attributable to Yingli Green Energy effects and basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share effects of the tax holiday for the years ended December 31, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 are as follows:

 

 

 

 

Exchange Rate Information

 

The conversion of Renminbi into U.S. dollars in this annual report is based on the noon buying rate in The City of New York for cable transfers of Renminbi per U.S. dollar as set forth in the H.10 weekly statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars in this annual report were made at a rate of RMB 6.6000 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect as of December 31, 2010. We make no representation that any Renminbi or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or Renminbi, as the case may be, at any particular rate, the rates stated below, or at all. The PRC government imposes control over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of Renminbi into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade. On May 6, 2011, the noon buying rate as set forth in the H.10 weekly statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board was RMB 6.4925 to US$1.00.

 

The following table sets forth information concerning exchange rates between the RMB and the U.S. dollar for the periods indicated.

 

 

 

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry

 

Adverse economic conditions in our target markets as well as an increased supply of PV modules has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our profitability and results of operations.

 

Demand for our products substantially depends on the general economic conditions in our target markets. The economies of many countries around the world, including those in our target markets, experienced a period of slow economic growth and adverse credit market conditions as a result of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. As PV system projects generally require significant upfront capital expenditures, our customers have historically relied on financing for the purchase of our products. As a result of weakened macroeconomic conditions and in particular the adverse credit market conditions, our customers experienced difficulty in obtaining financing on attractive terms or at all. As a result, the growth in demand for PV modules has declined significantly since the fourth quarter of 2008. Although the credit market conditions have improved since the second quarter of 2009, which has contributed to an overall increase in the demand for our products, we cannot assure you that demand for our PV modules will continue to increase or remain at its current level, or such demand will not decline again in the future.

 

In addition, the supply of PV modules has increased due to production capacity expansion by PV module manufacturers worldwide in recent years which, together with weakened demand for PV modules, resulted in a decline of prices of PV modules beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. The average selling price of our PV modules decreased significantly since the fourth quarter of 2008. While we have achieved cost savings through vertical integration, economies of scale and technological improvements, the decrease in the average selling price of our PV modules primarily caused our gross profit margin to decrease significantly from 24.1% in the third quarter of 2008 to 14.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008. As the demand for our products increased along with the improved macroeconomic environment and due to our continuing efforts to achieve additional cost savings, we were able to improve our gross profit margin from 23.6% in 2009 to 33.2% in 2010. However, there can be no assurance that the demand for our products will continue to increase or remain at the current level in the near future or our cost saving efforts will continue to improve our profitability or prevent our profit margin from further declining under the current macroeconomic conditions. If we experience declines in demand for our products or decreases in the average selling price of our PV modules again in the future, our financial condition and results of operation could be materially and adversely affected.

 

The high cost or inaccessibility of financing for solar energy projects has adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect demand for our products and materially reduce our revenue and profits.

 

If financing for solar energy projects continues to be more costly than the recent years or becomes inaccessible, the growth of the market for solar energy applications may be materially and adversely affected, which could adversely affect demand for our products and materially reduce our revenue and profits. For example, the average selling price of our PV modules decreased significantly from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, partly due to the tightened credit for PV system project financing as the result of the recent global financial crisis. In addition, rising interest rates could render existing financings more expensive, as well as present an obstacle for potential financings that would otherwise spur the growth of the PV industry. Furthermore, some countries, government agencies and the private sector have, from time to time, provided subsidies or financing on preferred terms for rural electrification programs. Some of our products are used in “off-grid” solar energy applications, where solar energy is provided to end users independent of an electricity transmission grid. We believe that the availability of financing could have a significant effect on the level of sales of off-grid solar energy applications, particularly in developing countries where users may not have sufficient resources or credit to otherwise acquire PV systems. If these existing financing programs are reduced or eliminated or if financings for solar energy projects continue to be tight or become more expensive, demand for our products would be adversely affected and our revenue and profits could decline.

A significant reduction in or discontinuation of government subsidies and economic incentives may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

 

Demand for our products substantially depends on government incentives aimed to promote greater use of solar power. In many countries in which we are currently or intend to become active, the PV markets, particularly the market for “on-grid” PV systems, would not be commercially viable without government incentives. This is because the cost of generating electricity from solar power currently exceeds the cost of generating electricity from conventional or non-solar renewable energy sources.

 

The scope of the government incentives for solar power depends, to a large extent, on political and policy developments in a given country related to environmental, economic or other concerns, which could lead to a significant reduction in or a discontinuation of the support for renewable energy sources in such country. For example, in 2008, Spain set a cap of 500 megawatts for feed-in tariffs for solar power in 2009, and, in 2010, Spain announced its plan to cut the subsidized electricity prices paid to new photovoltaic solar power plants by up to 45%, both of which are expected to significantly reduce installations of new solar energy projects in the country. In 2009, the German government reduced solar feed-in tariffs by 9%. In January, July and October of 2010, Germany introduced further solar feed-in tariffs reductions of approximately 24-26% for rooftop systems and 20-25% for ground-based systems. In addition, further mid-year tariff cuts are being discussed for 2011. In 2010 and May 2011, Italian government announced annual reductions to feed-in tariffs in an effort to impede overheating of its solar market. In addition, in certain countries, including countries to which we export PV products, government financial support of PV products has been, and may continue to be, challenged as being unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful. A significant reduction in the scope or discontinuation of government incentive programs, especially in our target markets, would have a material adverse effect on the demand for our PV modules as well as our results of operations.

 

We had experienced, and may experience in the future, industry-wide shortage of polysilicon. Our failure to obtain polysilicon in sufficient quantities, of appropriate quality and in a timely manner could disrupt our operations, prevent us from operating at full capacity or limit our ability to expand as planned, which will reduce, and limit the growth of, our manufacturing output and revenue.

 

Polysilicon is the most important raw material used in the production of our PV products. To maintain competitive manufacturing operations, we depend on timely delivery by our suppliers of polysilicon in sufficient quantities and of appropriate quality. The global supply of polysilicon is controlled by a limited number of producers, and until the fourth quarter of 2008, there had been an industry-wide shortage of polysilicon in recent years. The shortage of polysilicon was the result of a combination of factors, including a significant increase in demand for polysilicon due to the rapid growth of the PV industry, the significant lead time required for building additional capacity for polysilicon production and significant competing demand for polysilicon from the semiconductor industry.

 

Partly as a result of the industry-wide shortage, we had from time to time faced the prospect of a shortage of polysilicon and late or failed delivery of polysilicon from suppliers. We may experience actual shortage of polysilicon or late or failed delivery in the future for the following reasons, among others. First, the terms of our polysilicon contracts with, or purchase orders to, our suppliers may be altered or cancelled by the suppliers with limited or no penalty to them, in which case we may not be able to recover damages fully or at all. Second, we generally do not have a history of long-term relationships with polysilicon suppliers who may be able to meet our polysilicon needs consistently or on an emergency basis, while compared to us, many of our competitors who also purchase polysilicon from our suppliers have had longer and stronger relationships with and greater buying power and bargaining leverage over our suppliers. In January 2009, we acquired Cyber Power Group Limited, or Cyber Power, a development stage enterprise designed to produce polysilicon. Cyber Power, through its principle operating subsidiary, Fine Silicon, has started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. However, we do not expect to have a polysilicon production capacity that meets our polysilicon needs in the near future. As a result, we expect to continue to rely on third-party polysilicon suppliers.

If we fail to obtain delivery of polysilicon in amounts and according to time schedules as agreed with our suppliers, or at all, we may be forced to reduce production or secure alternative sources of polysilicon in the spot market, which may not provide polysilicon in amounts or quality required by us or at comparable or affordable prices, or at all. Our failure to obtain the required amounts and quality of polysilicon on time and at affordable prices can seriously hamper our ability to meet our contractual obligations to deliver PV products to our customers. Any failure by us to meet such obligations could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, retention of customers, market share, business and results of operations and may subject us to claims from our customers and other disputes. In addition, our failure to obtain sufficient amounts of polysilicon of the appropriate quality could result in underutilization of our existing and new production facilities and an increase of our marginal production cost, and may prevent us from implementing capacity expansion as currently planned. Any of the above events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Volatility in polysilicon prices may adversely affect our results of operations.

 

Polysilicon is the most important raw material in the production of our PV products. In 2007 and 2008, there was an industry-wide shortage of polysilicon, primarily due to the growing demand for PV products and limited supply of polysilicon, which resulted in increasing prices of polysilicon under both long-term supply contracts and on the spot market until the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2008. From the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, as the result of increased polysilicon manufacturing capacity and the decrease in the demand for polysilicon due to the recent global financial crisis, the price of polysilicon has decreased significantly. Since the third quarter of 2010, the polysilicon price has rebounded due to the recovery of demand for PV products in main markets. Any significant increase of the price for polysilicon may materially and adversely affect our business, cash flows, financial conditions and results of operations.

 

Our polysilicon cost may increase as a result of entering into fixed arrangements with our suppliers, and the excess costs and expenses to operate and manage our in-house polysilicon production may materially and adversely affect our results of operation.

 

Polysilicon is the most important raw material used in the production of our PV products. To maintain competitive manufacturing operations, we depend on timely delivery by our suppliers of polysilicon in sufficient quantities and of appropriate quality. There had been an industry-wide shortage of polysilicon supply in recent years until the fourth quarter of 2008, during which period we entered into short-term, medium-term and long-term supply contracts with fixed prices or prices adjustable with set formulas to secure our polysilicon supply. From the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, as the result of increased polysilicon manufacturing capacity and the decrease in the demand for polysilicon due to the recent global financial crisis, the price of polysilicon has decreased significantly. In response to the significant decrease in polysilicon price, we have renegotiated with our suppliers to reduce the purchase price for a substantial amount of polysilicon supplied under certain of our prior polysilicon supply contracts. If the price under our current contracts is higher than the market price of polysilicon, we will have higher cost of polysilicon compared with other competitors who purchase their polysilicon from the spot market.

 

In order to address the shortage of polysilicon and supplement our purchase from third-party polysilicon suppliers, we acquired Fine Silicon in January 2009 and have developed it into our in-house polysilicon production subsidiary. Fine Silicon is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons of polysilicon per year by the end of 2011. However, we cannot assure you that the polysilicon production at Fine Silicon will be cost-effective. If the market price of polysilicon decreases below the cost of polysilicon produced by Fine Silicon, our use of polysilicon produced by Fine Silicon will increase our cost of revenues. Such increased cost of revenues, combined with the costs and expenses for operating Fine Silicon, will materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

 

To the extent we are not able to pass these increased costs and expenses on to our customers, we may be placed at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis our competitors, and our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for a substantial majority of polysilicon could prevent us from delivering our products in a timely manner to our customers in the required quantities, which could result in order cancellations, decreased revenue and loss of market share.

 

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, our five largest suppliers supplied in the aggregate approximately 55.0%, 84.5% and 93.1%, respectively, of our total polysilicon purchases. If we fail to develop or maintain our relationships with these or our other suppliers, we may be unable to manufacture our products, our products may only be available at a higher cost or after a long delay, or we could be prevented from delivering our products to our customers in the required quantities, at competitive prices and on acceptable terms of delivery. Problems of this kind could cause us to experience order cancellations, decreased revenue and loss of market share. In general, the failure of a supplier to supply materials and components that meet our quality, quantity and cost requirements in a timely manner due to lack of supplies or other reasons could impair our ability to manufacture our products or could increase our costs, particularly if we are unable to obtain these materials and components from alternative sources in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms. Some of our suppliers have a limited operating history and limited financial resources, and some contracts we entered into with these suppliers do not clearly provide for remedies to us in the event any of these suppliers is not able to, or otherwise does not, deliver, in a timely manner or at all, any materials it is contractually obligated to deliver. We do not expect the production of Fine Silicon, our wholly owned polysilicon production subsidiary to meet our entire polysilicon needs in the near future. As a result, we expect to continue to rely on third-party polysilicon suppliers for a significant portion of our polysilicon needs and any disruption in the supply of polysilicon to us may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Historically, due to a shortage of raw materials for the production of PV modules, increased market demand for polysilicon raw materials, the failure by some polysilicon suppliers to achieve expected production volumes and certain other factors, a few of our polysilicon suppliers failed to fully perform on their polysilicon supply contractual commitments to us, and we consequently did not receive part of the contractually agreed quantities of polysilicon raw materials from these suppliers. While we were able to replace such expected deliveries of polysilicon through purchases from the spot market and new supply contracts, we cannot assure you that any future failure of our suppliers to deliver agreed quantities of polysilicon could be substantially replaced in a timely manner or at all through spot market purchases or new supply contracts or that the price of such purchases or terms of such contracts will be favorable to us.

 

We depend, and expect to continue to depend, on a limited number of customers for a significant percentage of our revenues. As a result, the loss of, or a significant reduction in orders from, any of these customers would significantly reduce our revenues and harm our results of operations. In addition, a significant portion of our outstanding accounts receivable is derived from sales to a limited number of customers. Failure of any of these customers to meet their payment obligations would materially and adversely affect our financial position, liquidity and results of operations.

 

We currently expect that our results of operations will, for the foreseeable future, continue to depend on the sale of our PV modules to a relatively small number of customers until we become successful in significantly expanding our customer base or diversifying product offerings. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, sales to our customers that individually exceeded 10% of our net revenues accounted for approximately 11.6%, 16.9% and 12.0%, respectively, of our net revenues. Our relationships with such key customers have been developed over a short period of time and are generally in their early stages. We cannot assure you that we will continue to generate significant revenues from these customers or that we will be able to maintain these customer relationships. In addition, our business is affected by competition in the market for the products that many of our major customers sell, and any decline in the businesses of our customers could reduce the purchase of our products by these customers. The loss of sales to any of these customers could also have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and results of operations.

 

In addition, a significant portion of our outstanding accounts receivable are derived from sales to a limited number of customers. As of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, our five largest outstanding accounts receivable balance (net of provisions) accounted for approximately 81.2%, 38.9% and 33.3%, respectively, of our total outstanding accounts receivable. We are exposed to the credit risk of these customers, some of which

are new customers with whom we have not had extensive business dealings historically. The failure of any of these customers to meet their payment obligations would materially and adversely affect our financial position, liquidity and results of operations.

 

We face intense competition in the PV modules and PV system markets and our PV products compete with different solar energy systems as well as other renewable energy sources in the alternative energy market. If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with existing or new competitors, our business prospects and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

 

The PV market is intensely competitive and rapidly evolving. The number of PV product manufacturers had rapidly increased due to the growth of actual and forecasted demand for PV products and the relatively low barriers to entry. If we fail to attract and retain customers in our target markets for our current and future core products, namely PV modules and PV systems, we will be unable to increase our revenues and market share.

 

We compete with both local and international producers of solar products, including the solar energy divisions of large conglomerates such as BP Solar and Sharp Corporation, PV module manufacturers such as SunPower Corporation, thin film solar module manufacturers such as First Solar, Inc., and integrated PV product manufacturers such as SolarWorld AG, Renewable Energy Corporation, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. and Trina Solar Limited.

 

We may also face competition from new entrants to the PV market, including those that offer more advanced technological solutions or that have greater financial resources, such as semiconductor manufacturers, several of which have announced their intention to start production of PV cells and PV modules. A significant number of our competitors are developing or currently producing products based on technologies which many believe to be more advanced including amorphous silicon, string ribbon and nano technologies, some or all of which may eventually offer cost advantages over the crystalline polysilicon technologies we currently use.. A widespread adoption of any of these technologies could result in a rapid decline in demand for our products and a resulting decrease in our revenues if we fail to adopt such technologies. In addition, like us, some of our competitors have become, or are becoming, vertically integrated in the PV industry value chain, from silicon ingot manufacturing to PV system sales and installation. This could further erode our competitive advantage as a vertically integrated PV product manufacturer. In addition, our competitors may also enter into the polysilicon manufacturing business, which may provide them with cost advantages. Furthermore, the entire PV industry also faces competition from conventional energy and non-solar renewable energy providers.

 

Many of our existing and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, manufacturing and other resources than we do. The greater size of some of our competitors provides them with cost advantages as a result of their economies of scale and their ability to obtain volume discounts and purchase raw materials at lower prices. Some of our competitors also have better brand name recognition, more established distribution networks, larger customer bases or more in-depth knowledge of the target markets. As a result, they may be able to devote greater resources to the research and development, promotion and sale of their products and respond more quickly to evolving industry standards and changes in market conditions as compared to us. Our failure to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with existing or future competitors would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and results of operations.

 

If PV technology is not suitable for widespread adoption, or sufficient demand for PV products does not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipated, our sales may not continue to increase or may even decline, and we may be unable to sustain profitability.

 

The PV market is at a relatively early stage of development and the extent to which PV products will be widely adopted is uncertain. The PV industry may also be particularly susceptible to economic downturns. Market data in the PV industry are not as readily available as those in other more established industries where

trends can be assessed more reliably from data gathered over a longer period of time. If PV technology proves unsuitable for widespread adoption or if demand for PV products fails to develop sufficiently, we may not be able to grow our business or generate sufficient revenues to sustain our profitability. In addition, demand for PV products in our targeted markets, including China, may not develop or may develop to a lesser extent than we anticipated. Many factors may affect the viability of widespread adoption of PV technology and demand for PV products, including (i) cost-effectiveness of PV products compared to conventional and other non-solar energy sources and products; (ii) performance and reliability of PV products compared to conventional and other non-solar energy sources and products; (iii) availability of government subsidies and incentives to support the development of the PV industry; (iv) success of other alternative energy generation technologies, such as fuel cells, wind power and biomass; (v) fluctuations in economic and market conditions that affect the viability of conventional and non-solar alternative energy sources, such as increases or decreases in the prices of oil and other fossil fuels; (vi) capital expenditures by end users of PV products, which tend to decrease when economy slows down; and (vii) deregulation of the electric utility industry and broader energy industry.

 

Existing regulations and policies governing the electric utility industry, as well as changes to these regulations and policies, may adversely affect demand for our products and materially reduce our revenue and profits.

 

The electric utility industry is subject to extensive regulation, and the market for PV products is heavily influenced by these regulations as well as the policies promulgated by electric utilities. These regulations and policies often affect electricity pricing and technical interconnection of end-user power generation. As the market for solar and other alternative energy sources continues to evolve, these regulations and policies are being modified and may continue to be modified. Customer purchases of, or further investment in research and development of, solar and other alternative energy sources may be significantly affected by these regulations and policies, which could significantly reduce demand for our products and materially reduce our revenue and profits.

 

Moreover, we expect that our PV products and their installation will be subject to oversight and regulation in accordance with international, national and local ordinances relating to building codes, safety, environmental protection, utility interconnection and metering and related matters in various countries or regions. We also have to comply with the requirements of individual localities and design equipment to comply with varying standards applicable in the jurisdictions where we conduct business. Any new government regulations or utility policies pertaining to our PV products may result in significant additional expenses to us, our distributors and end users and, as a result, could cause a significant reduction in demand for our PV products, as well as materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Advance payment arrangements between us and some of our polysilicon suppliers and many of our equipment suppliers expose us to the credit risks of such suppliers and may increase our costs and expenses, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our liquidity.

 

We made advance payments to some of our polysilicon suppliers under long-term supply contracts we signed with them. As of December 31, 2010, we had long-term prepayment balances for polysilicon in a total amount of RMB 504.3 million (US$76.4 million) under such long-term contracts. In addition, under existing supply contracts with many of our equipment suppliers, consistent with the industry practice, we make advance payments to our suppliers prior to the scheduled delivery dates for equipment. In many such cases, we make the advance payments without receiving collateral for such payments. As a result, our claims for such payments would rank as unsecured claims, which would expose us to the credit risks of our suppliers in the event of their insolvency or bankruptcy. Under such circumstances, our claims against the defaulting suppliers would rank below those of secured creditors, which would undermine our chances of obtaining the return of our advance payments. Accordingly, any of the above scenarios may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Our growth strategy requires substantial capital expenditures, significant engineering efforts, timely delivery of manufacturing equipment and dedicated management attention, and our failure to complete our expansion plans or otherwise effectively manage our growth could have a material adverse effect on the growth of our sales and earnings.

 

Our future success depends on our ability to expand our manufacturing capacity. If we are unable to do so, we will not be able to attain the desired level of economies of scale in our operations or lower our marginal production costs to the level necessary to effectively maintain our pricing and other competitive advantages. We have made substantial capital expenditures for our growth in the past and future expansions. For example, we completed an aggregate of 400 megawatts capacity expansion projects in July 2010, bringing our total annual production capacity to 1,000 megawatts. Fine Silicon, our wholly-owned polysilicon production subsidiary, started trial production in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. In addition, we are implementing a 600 megawatts production capacity expansion project in Baoding and a 100 megawatt production capacity expansion project in Hainan Province, which are expected to start initial production in the middle of 2011 and will bring our total nameplate capacity to 1,700 megawatts in late 2011. Our growth strategy has required and will continue to require substantial capital expenditures, significant engineering efforts, timely delivery of manufacturing equipment, dedicated management attention and the recruitment and training of new employees and is subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including:

 

 

Any of these or similar difficulties could adversely affect our ability to manage the growth of our operations. Any significant delays or constraints to our manufacturing capacity expansion as currently planned could limit our ability to increase sales, reduce marginal manufacturing costs or otherwise improve our prospects and profitability. In addition, we may have over-capacity as a result of our manufacturing capacity expansion if we do not sufficiently increase sales.

 

We may undertake acquisitions, investments, joint ventures or other strategic alliances, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to manage our business, and such undertakings may be unsuccessful.

 

Our strategy includes plans to grow both organically and through acquisitions, participation in joint ventures or other strategic alliances with suppliers or other companies in China and overseas along the PV industry value chain. For example, in January 2009, we completed the acquisition of Cyber Power and its principal operating subsidiary, Fine Silicon, to establish our own in-house polysilicon production capacity.

Joint ventures and strategic alliances may expose us to new operational, regulatory, market and geographic risks as well as risks associated with additional capital requirements.

 

Acquisitions of companies or businesses and participation in joint ventures or other strategic alliances are subject to considerable risks, including:

 

 

Any of these events could disrupt our ability to manage our business, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Such risks could also result in our failure to derive the intended benefits of the acquisitions, strategic investments, joint ventures or strategic alliances and we may be unable to recover our investment in such initiatives.

 

We may not be able to ramp up our in-house polysilicon manufacturing capacity on schedule or at all.

 

Fine Silicon, our wholly owned polysilicon production subsidiary, started trial production in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production volume of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. To fully ramp up Fine Silicon’s production capacity, we will need to continue to integrate the personnel we have hired and build an effective team and infrastructure to oversee the operation of the production facilities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to fully ramp up our polysilicon production capacity on schedule or at all. Our ability to successfully ramp up polysilicon manufacturing capacity is subject to various risks and uncertainties, including:

 

 

We only have very limited experience in polysilicon production and may not be successful in producing polysilicon cost-effectively.

 

We started trial production of polysilicon through Fine Silicon in late 2009. Prior to that, we had no experience in polysilicon production. The technology used to manufacture polysilicon is complex, requires costly equipment and is continuously being modified in an effort to improve yields and product performance. Microscopic impurities such as dust and other contaminants, difficulties in the manufacturing process, disruptions in the supply of utilities or defects in the key materials and tools used to manufacture polysilicon

could interrupt manufacturing, reduce yields or cause a portion of the polysilicon to be difficult or costly to use in wafer production, which would negatively affect our profitability. In the process of ramping up our polysilicon production capacity, if we are unable to overcome technological difficulties, we may be unable to achieve cost-effective production of polysilicon, which could prevent us from successfully implementing our business plans.

 

Our effective capacity and ability to produce high volumes of polysilicon will depend on the cycle times for each batch of polysilicon. We may encounter problems in our manufacturing process or facilities as a result of, among other things, production failures, construction delays, human error, equipment malfunction or process contamination, all of which could seriously harm our operations. We may experience production delays if any modifications we make in the manufacturing process to shorten production cycles are unsuccessful. Moreover, the failure to achieve acceptable manufacturing levels would result in the need to source a larger portion of our polysilicon requirements from third parties and therefore may cause our polysilicon costs not to be competitive, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

If we are unable to operate our polysilicon production facilities effectively or natural disasters or other operational disruptions occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

Production of polysilicon requires the use of volatile materials and chemical reactions sensitive to temperature, pressure and requires the use of external controls to maintain safety and provide commercial production yields. The occurrence of a catastrophic event as a result of a natural disaster or human error or otherwise at our future polysilicon production facilities could threaten, disrupt or destroy a significant portion or all of our polysilicon production capacity at such facility for a significant period of time. Furthermore, our polysilicon production facilities will be highly reliant on our ability to maintain temperatures and pressure at appropriate levels, the supply of steam at a consistent pressure, the availability of adequate electricity and our ability to control the application of such electricity. Accordingly, mistakes in operating our equipment or an interruption in the supply of electricity at our production facilities could result in the production of substandard polysilicon or substantial shortfalls in production and could reduce our production capacity for a significant period of time. Damage or loss of revenue from any such events or disruptions may not be adequately covered by insurance, and could also damage our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Polysilicon and ingot production is energy-intensive and if our energy costs rise or if our energy supplies are disrupted, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 

The polysilicon and ingot production process is highly dependent on a constant supply of electricity to maintain the optimal conditions for production. If these levels are not maintained, we may experience significant delays in the production of polysilicon and ingots. With the rapid development of the Chinese economy, demand for electricity has continued to increase. There have been shortages in electricity supply in various regions across China, especially during peak seasons such as summer. In the event that energy supplies to our manufacturing facilities are disrupted, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition to shortages, we are subject to potential risks of interruptions in energy supply due to equipment failure, weather events or other causes. There can be no assurance that we will not face power related problems in the future.

 

Even if we had access to sufficient sources of electricity, as we consume substantial amounts of electricity in our manufacturing process, any significant increase in the costs of electricity could adversely affect our profitability. The electricity price in China will also be largely dependent on the price for coal, which has been increasing. If energy costs were to increase, our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity position could be adversely affected.

Fluctuations in exchange rates have in the past and may continue to adversely affect our results of operations.

 

Most of our sales are currently denominated in Euros or U.S. dollars, while a substantial portion of our costs and expenses is denominated in Renminbi, Euros and U.S. dollars. In addition, we must constantly convert one currency into another to make payments. Therefore, fluctuations in currency exchange rates could have a significant effect on our results of operations due to mismatches among various foreign currency-denominated transactions, including sales of PV modules in overseas markets and purchases of silicon raw materials and equipment, and the time gap between the signing of the related contracts and cash receipts and disbursements related to such contracts.

 

In 2010, we recognized a net foreign currency exchange loss of RMB 338.2 million (US$51.2 million), primarily due to the depreciation of the Euro against the Renminbi in the first half of 2010 and the depreciation of the U.S. dollars against the Renminbi in the second half of 2010. In addition, we have entered into hedging and foreign currency forward arrangements to limit our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. However, we will continue to be exposed to foreign currency exchange risk to the extent that our hedging and foreign currency forward arrangements do not cover all of our expected revenues denominated in foreign currencies. We cannot predict the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on our foreign currency exchange gains or losses in the future. We may continue to reduce the effect of such exposure through hedging or other similar arrangements, but because of the limited availability of such instruments in China, we cannot assure you that we will always find a hedging arrangement suitable to us, or that such derivative activities will be effective in managing our foreign exchange risk.

 

In addition, our functional currency for PRC subsidiaries is Renminbi. Our sales generated by PRC subsidiaries which are denominated in foreign currencies need to be translated into Renminbi when they are recorded as our revenues. Therefore, depreciation of foreign currencies in which our sales are denominated, such as the Euro and the U.S. dollar, against the Renminbi will cause our reported revenues to decline. For example, in 2009 and 2010, the depreciation of the Euro against the Renminbi and the depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Renminbi adversely affected our total net revenues, as a majority of our PV module shipments were under contracts denominated in the Euro and the U.S. dollar. Any further depreciation of foreign currencies in which our sales are denominated against the Renminbi will continue to adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

 

Our product development initiatives and other research and development efforts may fail to improve manufacturing efficiency or yield commercially viable new products.

 

We are making efforts to improve our manufacturing processes and improve the quality of our PV products. We believe the efficient use of polysilicon is essential to reducing our manufacturing costs. We have been exploring several measures to improve the efficient use of polysilicon in our manufacturing process, including reducing the thickness of silicon wafers. However, the use of thinner silicon wafers may have unforeseen negative consequences, such as increased breakage and reduced reliability and conversion efficiency of our PV cells and modules. As a result, reducing the thickness of silicon wafers may not lead to the cost reductions we expect to achieve, while at the same time it may reduce customer satisfaction with our products, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our customer relationships, reputation and results of operations. In addition, we have also been able to reduce manufacturing costs by utilizing polysilicon scraps and lower-grade polysilicon in our production of ingots and wafers. However, while the addition of monocrystalline silicon to our production of ingots and wafers may reduce costs of polysilicon supply, we cannot assure you that such benefits will not be outweighed by the additional costs of equipment and production costs to produce monocrystalline silicon.

 

We are also exploring ways to improve our PV module production. Additional research and development efforts will be required before our products in development may be manufactured and sold at a commercially viable level. We cannot assure you that such efforts will improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes or yield new products that are commercially viable. In addition, the failure to realize the intended benefits from

our product development initiatives could limit our ability to keep pace with the rapid technological changes, which in turn would hurt our business and prospects.

 

For example, in order to meet the increasing demand for our products and further drive down costs through increased cell conversion efficiency and the larger scale of manufacturing, we started to implement Project PANDA, a research and development project for next-generation high efficiency monocrystalline PV cells, in June 2009. In 2010, on the 300 megawatts PANDA commercial production lines, we achieved an average efficiency rate of 18.5%. In the first quarter of 2011, we achieved a record cell conversion efficiency rate of 19.89% on a PANDA pilot production line. However, as we are new to the monocrystalline technology, we may not be able to overcome all technical challenges in the process of commercializing new technology developed from Project PANDA and maintain or further improve the cell conversion efficiency rate we have achieved. In addition, we only have limited experience with customer demands in the monocrystalline PV market and may not be able to adapt to the monocrystalline PV market conditions. The established and more experienced competitors in the monocrystalline PV market may possess superior technology and have better known brand names than us. If we fail to successfully continue commercializing our monocrystalline PV technology or are unable to operate competitively in the monocrystalline market, we may not be able to recover the cost of our investments, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

 

Our operating results may fluctuate from period to period.

 

Our results of operations are subject to many factors out of our control, which include, among others, changes in costs of raw materials, delays in equipment delivery, suppliers’ failure to perform their delivery obligations, cancellation or delay of customers’ orders, interruptions in utilities supply and other key production inputs, general economic conditions and changes in government policies or incentive schemes, or uncertainties relating to any of the these factors. Any one or combination of these factors may cause our results of operations to fluctuate significantly from period to period or deviate from the expectations of the investment community or our own projections. For example, in the first quarter of 2011, due to the uncertainties relating to the timing of a proposed reduction in feed-in tariffs for solar power in Italy, certain orders we expected to deliver to customers in Italy in that quarter were delayed or cancelled and expected to be delivered in the following quarters, which caused a decrease in our PV module shipments for the first quarter 2011 from the previous quarter. In the same quarter, increases in polysilicon cost and auxiliary raw materials had a negative impact on our gross margin. For these reasons, our results of operations for the first quarter 2011 were expected to be lower than the guidance we previously provided to the investment community. As a result, comparing our results of operations on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and you should not rely on our past results or projections as an indication of our future performance.

 

Failure to achieve satisfactory output of our PV modules and PV systems could result in a decline in sales.

 

The manufacture of PV modules and PV systems is a highly complex process. Disruptions or deviations in one or more components of the manufacturing process can cause a substantial decrease in output and, in some cases, disrupt production significantly or result in no output. Historically, we had from time to time experienced lower-than-anticipated manufacturing output during the ramp-up of production lines. This often occurred during the production of new products, the installation of new equipment or the implementation of new process technologies. As we bring additional lines or facilities into production, we may operate at less than intended capacity during the ramp-up period and produce less output than expected. This would result in higher marginal production costs which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

 

Unsatisfactory performance of or defects in our products may cause us to incur additional warranty expenses, damage our reputation and cause our sales to decline.

 

Currently, our PV modules sold to customers outside of China typically carry a five-year limited warranty for defects in materials and workmanship, although historically our PV modules were typically sold with a

two-year limited warranty for such defects. In addition, our PV modules typically carry a ten-year and twenty-five-year limited warranty against declines of initial power generation capacity by more than 10.0% and 20.0%, respectively. As a result, we bear the risk of extensive warranty claims long after we sell our products and recognize revenues. As we began selling PV modules only since January 2003, a small portion of our PV modules has been in use for more than five years. For our PV systems sold in China, we provide a one- to five-year limited warranty against defects in modules, storage batteries and certain other system parts. As of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, our accrued warranty costs amounted to RMB 123.6 million, RMB 189.2 million and RMB 303.6 million (US$46.0 million), respectively. In addition, because our products have only been in use for a relatively short period of time, our assumptions regarding the durability and reliability of our products may not be accurate, and because our products have relatively long warranty periods, we cannot assure you that the amount of accrued warranty by us for our products will be adequate in light of the actual performance of our products. If we experience a significant increase in warranty claims, we may incur significant repair and replacement costs associated with such claims. Furthermore, widespread product failures will damage our reputation and customer relationships and may cause our sales to decline, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism or other factors beyond our control may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, severe weather conditions or other catastrophic events may severely affect the regions where we or our customers operate. For example, in March 2011, Japan experienced a strong earthquake, measuring approximately 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, and severe tsunami created by earthquake, causing widespread damage and casualties. These natural disasters could cause a material economic downturn in the affected area or internationally. Although we have limited exposure to this catastrophic event, any future disasters could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Similarly, war, terrorist activity, threats of war or terrorist activity, social unrest as well as geopolitical uncertainty and international conflict and tension, for example, the current armed conflicts in Libya, could affect international economic development. In turn, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may not be adequately prepared in terms of contingency planning or have recovery capabilities in place to deal with a major incident or crisis. As a result, our operational continuity may be adversely and materially affected.

 

We have limited insurance coverage and may incur losses resulting from business interruption or natural disasters.

 

We do not maintain any business interruption insurance coverage. As a result, we may have to pay, out of our own funds, for financial and other losses, damages and liabilities, including those in connection with or resulting from claims caused by natural disasters and other events beyond our control, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

We obtain some of the equipment used in our manufacturing process from a small number of selected suppliers and if our equipment is damaged or new or replacement equipment is not delivered to us in a timely manner or is otherwise unavailable, our ability to deliver products timely will suffer, which in turn could result in cancellations of orders and loss of revenue for us.

 

Some of the equipment used in our production of polysilicon ingots, wafers, PV cells and PV modules, such as ingot casting furnaces, diffusion furnaces and wire saws, have been customized to our specifications, are not readily available from multiple vendors and would be difficult to repair or replace. There are also limited sources of supply for the principal polysilicon manufacturing equipment we use and we may not be able to replace such sources at reasonable costs and on a timely basis or at all. If any of our key equipment suppliers were to experience financial difficulties or go out of business, we may have difficulties with repairing or replacing our key equipment in the event of any damage to or a breakdown of such equipment. Furthermore, new or replacement equipment may not be delivered to us in a timely manner. In such cases, our

ability to deliver products in a timely manner would suffer, which in turn could result in cancellations of orders from our customers and loss of revenue for us. In addition, the equipment we need for our expansion is in high demand. A supplier’s failure to deliver the equipment in a timely manner, in sufficient quantity and on terms acceptable to us could delay our capacity expansion and otherwise disrupt our production schedule or increase our production costs.

 

If the practice of requiring many of our customers to make advance payments when they place orders with us ceases, we may experience increased needs to finance our working capital requirements and may be exposed to increased credit risk, which may materially and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

 

We require many of our customers to make an advance payment representing a small percentage of their orders, a business practice that helps us manage our accounts receivable, prepay our suppliers and reduce the amount of funds that we needed to finance our working capital requirements. However, this practice had historically ceased for a certain period of time, which in turn had increased our need to obtain additional short-term borrowings to fund our cash requirements. We cannot assure you that this practice will not cease again in the future. If this practice ceases, we may not be able to secure additional financing on a timely basis or on terms acceptable to us or at all. Currently, a significant portion of our revenue is derived from credits sales to our customers, generally with payments due within two months. As a result, any future decrease in the use of cash advance payments by our customers may negatively impact our short-term liquidity and, coupled with increased sales to a small number of major customers, expose us to additional and more concentrated credit risk since a significant portion of our outstanding accounts receivable is derived from sales to a limited number of customers. As of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, our five largest outstanding accounts receivable balance accounted for approximately 81.2%, 38.9% and 33.3%, respectively, of our total outstanding accounts receivable. The failure of any of these or other customers to meet their payment obligations would materially and adversely affect our financial position, liquidity and results of operations. For example, as the result of two customers’ prolonged failure to settle accounts receivable and the continuing deterioration of their financial condition and creditworthiness, we made a total provision of RMB 315.5 million in 2009 for the doubtful accounts receivable related to these two customers. Although we have been able to maintain adequate working capital primarily through short-term borrowing, our convertible senior notes offering, the follow-on offering, other debt issuances and long-term bank borrowings, any failure by our customers to settle outstanding accounts receivable in the future could materially and adversely affect our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We face risks associated with the marketing and sale of our PV products internationally, and if we are unable to effectively manage these risks, our ability to expand our business abroad will be limited.

 

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, we sold 97.5%, 95.5% and 94.0%, respectively, of our products to customers outside of China, including customers in Germany, the United States, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. We intend to further grow our business activities in international and domestic markets, in particular in the United States, China, South Africa and selected countries in southern Europe and Southeast Asia where we believe the PV market is likely to grow significantly in the near term. The marketing and sale of our PV products to international markets expose us to a number of risks, including, but not limited, to:

 

 

 

We export a substantial amount of our products to Europe. In 2009, there were discussions that indicate the European Union may seek to start anti-dumping investigations on PV products imported from China. If an anti-dumping investigation is started against Chinese exporters or if the European Union imposes anti-dumping or other trade protection measures, including increase tariffs on PV products imported from China, our export to Europe may be materially and adversely affected.

 

In recent years, we also export an increasing amount of our products to the United States. On September 9, 2010, the United Steel Workers filed a petition with the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, alleging the PRC government has engaged in unfair trade policies and practices with respect to certain domestic industries, including the solar power industry. The petition alleges that China employs a wide range of World Trade Organization-inconsistent policies that protect and unfairly support its domestic producers of wind and PV energy products, advanced batteries and energy-efficient vehicles. According to the petition, these policies include export restraints, prohibited subsidies, discrimination against foreign companies and imported goods, technology transfer requirements, and domestic subsidies causing serious prejudice to U.S. interests. Subsequently, USTR initiated an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, which is ongoing as of the date of this annual report. On January 7, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Military Authorization Law, which contains a “Buy American” provision that prohibits the United States Defense Department from purchasing Chinese-made solar panels. If as the result of such investigation the United States imposes anti-subsidies or other trade protection measures, our export to the United States may be materially and adversely affected. There can be no assurance that any government or international trade body will not institute adverse trade policies or remedies against exports from China in the future. Any significant changes in international trade policies, practices or trade remedies, especially those instituted in our target markets or markets where our major customers are located, could increase the price of our products compared to our competitors or decrease our customers’ demand for our products, which may adversely affect our business prospects and results of operations. If the United States imposes anti-subsidies or other trade protection measures, our export to the United States may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Our business in foreign markets requires us to respond timely and effectively to rapid changes in market conditions in the relevant countries. Our overall success as a global business depends, in part, on our ability to succeed in different legal, regulatory, economic, social and political conditions. We may not be able to develop and implement policies and strategies that will be effective in each location where we do business. To the extent that we conduct business in foreign countries by means of participations or joint ventures, there are additional risks. See “— We may undertake acquisitions, investments, joint ventures or other strategic alliances, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to manage our business, and such undertakings may be unsuccessful.” A change in one or more of the factors described above may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We require a significant amount of cash to fund our operations as well as meet future capital requirements. If we cannot obtain additional capital when we need it, our growth prospects and future profitability may be materially and adversely affected.

 

We require a significant amount of cash to fund our operations. We will also require cash to meet future capital requirements, which are difficult to predict in the rapidly changing PV industry. In particular, we will

need substantial capital to fund the further expansion of our production capacity, the ramp-up of our in-house polysilicon production capacity, as well as research and development activities in order to remain competitive.

 

Our ability to obtain additional financing in the future is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

 

 

In particular, as a result of weakened macroeconomic conditions resulting from the recent global financial crisis, including continuing adverse credit market conditions, we have experienced and may continue to experience increasing difficulty in obtaining financing on acceptable terms or at all. We cannot assure that financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funding in a timely manner or on commercially acceptable terms or at all, our growth prospects and future profitability may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, the sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities would result in further dilution to our shareholders and the incurrence of indebtedness has and may continue to result in increased fixed obligations and has and could continue to lead to the imposition of financial or other restrictive covenants that would restrict our operations.

 

We have issued, and may issue in the future, equity securities or securities convertible into our ordinary shares, which may cause our existing shareholders to incur further dilution upon conversion of such securities.

 

We have issued, and may issue in the future, equity securities or securities convertible into our ordinary shares. In the event that the securities convertible into our ordinary shares are converted, our existing shareholders may incur further dilution. For example, in June 2009, we offered 18,390,000 ADSs, representing 18,390,000 of our ordinary shares, to the public and raised approximately US$227.3 million in net proceeds. In January 2009, we entered into a note purchase agreement with Trustbridge Partners II, L.P., or Trustbridge. Under the terms of the note purchase agreement, we have issued an aggregate amount of US$49.4 million of senior secured convertible notes due 2012, or senior secured convertible notes, to Trustbridge, or its affiliates. The senior secured convertible notes were convertible at any time prior to its maturity date into our ordinary shares at an initial conversion rate of 17,699 ordinary shares per US$100,000 principal amount of senior secured convertible notes (based on US$5.65 per ADS, the average volume weighted average price of our ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange for the 20-trading day period immediately preceding to the entry into the note purchase agreement). Under the terms of the indenture governing the notes, the conversion rate is subject to certain anti-dilution adjustments. For example, on June 30, 2010 and the last day of each quarter thereafter, the conversion rate will be adjusted to equal to US$100,000 divided by the average volume weighted average price of our ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange for the 20-trading day period immediately preceding to such date, if such adjustment results in an increase in the number of our ordinary shares issuable upon conversion. In addition, upon the public release of our financial results for each of the full year 2008, the second quarter 2009 and the full year 2009, the conversion rate would be adjusted to equal to US$100,000 divided by the average volume weighted average price of our ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange for the 20-trading day period immediately following such public release, if such adjustment results in an increase in the number of our ordinary shares issuable upon conversion. In March 2009, the conversion rate was adjusted to the rate of 22,933 ordinary shares per US$100,000 principal amount of the senior secured convertible notes as a result of our public release of our financial results for the full year 2008. See “Item 7.B. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions — Related Party Transactions — Cyber Power Acquisition and Issuance of Senior Secured Convertible Notes” for additional information. In June 2009, we issued 2,000,000 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of approximately US$8.7 million of the senior secured convertible notes. In the third quarter of 2010, we issued 6,000,688 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of US$26.2 million of the senior secured convertible notes. As of the date of this annual report, approximately US$14.6 million of the senior secured convertible notes were outstanding. We would be required to issue an aggregate of 3,339,503 ordinary shares to Trustbridge or its affiliates upon the conversion of our senior secured convertible notes, assuming all such notes are converted at

the adjusted conversion rate of 22,933 ordinary shares per US$100,000 in principal amount of the senior secured convertible notes.

 

In connection with a credit agreement between Yingli China and a fund managed by Asia Debt Management Hong Kong Limited, or ADM Capital, entered into in January 2009, we issued 4,125,000 warrants to ADM Capital under the terms of a warrant agreement entered into in April 2009. The warrants are exercisable with respect to approximately one-fifth of the warrants every six months beginning in April 7, 2009 until April 7, 2012. On April 30, 2012, the warrant holders’ rights to exercise the warrants will terminate and we will be obligated to purchase all unexercised warrants at a price of US$7.00 per warrant. Each warrant provides for the right to acquire one ordinary share at an initial strike price of US$5.64, which is based on the 20-trading day volume weighted average closing price per ADS on the New York Stock Exchange for the period prior to the issuance of the warrant, subject to customary anti-dilution and similar adjustments. In June 2009, we and ADM Capital revised the warrant agreement and modified the terms so that (i) the initial strike price decreased from US$5.64 per share to US$5.06 per share, (ii) upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders, we may, at our sole discretion, elect to settle the put price in cash, shares or a combination of cash and shares and (iii) the number of ordinary shares we are obligated to issue upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders was capped. Furthermore, subject to certain exceptions and conditions, we have agreed to register under the Securities Act any ordinary shares delivered upon the exercise of warrants. We may at our discretion settle the warrants in cash, ordinary shares or a mix of cash and ordinary shares. In May 2010, 498,612 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In November 2010, 511,599 ordinary shares in the form of ADS were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In May 2011, 1,444,060 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 2,475,000 warrants. As a result, nil warrants remain outstanding as of the date of this annual report.

 

If our future acquisitions, expansions, or market changes or other developments cause us to require additional funds, we may issue additional securities convertible into our ordinary shares, and our existing shareholders could incur substantial dilution.

 

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our ability to meet any of our payment obligations under the debentures and our other debt.

 

We currently have a significant amount of debt and debt service requirements. As of December 31, 2010, we had RMB 5,857.9 million (US$887.6 million) in outstanding short-term borrowings (including the current portion of long-term debt), RMB 1.0 billion (US$151.7 million) in outstanding medium-term notes and RMB 2,496.5 million (US$378.3 million) in outstanding long-term debt (excluding the current portion).

 

This level of debt could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:

 

 

 

Any of these factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations as well as our ability to meet our payment obligations under the debentures and our other debt.

 

Our ability to meet our payment and other obligations under our debt instruments depends on our ability to generate significant cash flow in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate adequate cash flow from operations to support our operations and service our debt obligations, or that future debt or equity will be available to us under our existing or any future credit facilities or otherwise, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our payment obligations under our outstanding debt while continuing to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are not able to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations, we may need to refinance or restructure our debt, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments, or seek to raise additional capital. If we are unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may not be able to meet our payment and other obligations under our outstanding debt.

 

If we fail to comply with financial covenants under our loan agreements, our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

 

A number of our loan agreements contain financial covenants that require us to maintain certain financial ratios, including debt to EBITDA ratios. We may not be able to comply with some of those financial covenants from time to time. For example, the worsening operating environment that had generally affected companies operating in our industry since the fourth quarter of 2008 had led to potential breaches of certain financial covenants under some of our loan agreements. In response to such potential breaches, we had to negotiate with the relevant lenders terms of prepayment or to amend those financial covenants to prevent actual breaches from occurring, for example, by resetting the financial covenants for the relevant periods in the relevant loan agreements or beginning testing for compliance with financial covenants at a later date. However, if we need to negotiate with lenders again in the future with respect to prepayment or to amend financial covenants or other relevant provisions under such loan agreements to address potential breaches, we cannot assure you that we would be able to reach agreements with the lenders to avoid a breach. Furthermore, in connection with any future amendments to such covenants, our lenders may impose additional operating and financial restrictions on us and otherwise seek to modify the terms of our existing loan agreements in ways that are adverse to us. Although there has been a general economic recovery since the second quarter of 2009, we cannot assure you that such recovery will continue or be sustained or will ultimately have a positive effect on the general operating environment of our industry. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to comply with the financial covenants under our loan agreements in the future. If the operating environment deteriorates, we may not be able to comply with some of the financial covenants under some of our loan agreements in future periods. If we are in breach of one or more financial covenants under any of our loan agreements and are not able to obtain waivers from the lenders or prepay such loan, such breach would constitute an event of default under the loan agreement. As a result, repayment of the indebtedness under the relevant loan agreement may be accelerated, which may in turn require us to repay the entire principal amount including interest accrued, if any, of certain of our other existing indebtedness prior to their maturity under cross-default provisions in our existing loan agreements. If we are required to repay a significant portion or all of our existing indebtedness prior to their maturity, we may lack sufficient financial resources to do so. Furthermore, a breach of those financial covenants will also restrict our ability to pay dividends. Any of those events could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects.

 

We have significant short-term borrowings outstanding, and we may not be able to obtain extensions when they mature.

 

As of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, our outstanding short-term borrowings (including the current portion of long-term debt) were RMB 2,044.2 million, RMB 3,501.0 million and RMB 5,857.9 million

(US$887.6 million), respectively, and bore a weighted average interest rate of 6.73%, 5.05% and 4.85%, respectively, of which nil, RMB 370.0 million and RMB 1,647.2 million (US$249.6 million), respectively, were arranged or guaranteed by related parties.

 

Generally, these loans contain no specific renewal terms, although we had traditionally negotiated renewal of certain of the loans shortly before they would mature. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to renew similar loans in the future as they mature. If we are unable to obtain renewals of any future loans or sufficient alternative funding on reasonable terms, we will have to repay these borrowings with cash generated by our future operations, if any. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations to repay our future borrowings.

 

A majority of our production, storage, administrative and research and development facilities are located in close proximity to one another in an industrial park in China. Any damage or disruption at these facilities would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

A majority of our production, storage, administrative, research and development facilities are located in close proximity to one another in an industrial park in Baoding, Hebei Province, China. A natural disaster or other unanticipated catastrophic event, including power interruption, and war, could significantly disrupt our ability to manufacture our products and operate our business. If any of our production facilities or material equipment were to experience any significant damage or downtime, we would be unable to meet our production targets and our business would suffer.

 

Our manufacturing processes generate noise, waste water, gaseous and other industrial wastes. This creates a risk of work-related accidents and places high demands on work safety measures. No major injuries have occurred at our facilities in connection with work-related accidents to date. Nonetheless, we cannot assure you that accidents involving serious or fatal injuries will not occur at our facilities. Furthermore, there is a risk of contamination and environmental damage associated with hazardous substances used in our production processes. The materialization of any of the above risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our principal shareholder has significant influence over our management and their interests may not be aligned with our interests or the interests of our other shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.

 

Yingli Power, which is 100% beneficially owned by the family trust of and controlled by Liansheng Miao, the chairperson of our board of directors and our chief executive officer, currently beneficially owns approximately 32.62% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Yingli Power has significant influence over us, including on matters relating to mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. The interests of this shareholder may conflict with our interests or the interests of our others shareholders.

 

Tianwei Baobian has significant influence over Tianwei Yingli, one of our principal operating entities, and Tianwei Baobian may influence Tianwei Yingli from taking actions that are in the best interest of us or Tianwei Yingli. In addition, Tianwei Baobian will have significant influence over us if it exercises the subscription right, and Tianwei Baobian’s interests may not be aligned with our interests or the interests of our shareholders.

 

Tianwei Baobian currently owns a 25.99% equity interest in Tianwei Yingli, one of our principal operating entities. Tianwei Baobian has significant influence over Tianwei Yingli through its board representation in Tianwei Yingli and other rights in accordance with the joint venture contract with us and the articles of association of Tianwei Yingli.

 

Tianwei Baobian is entitled to appoint three of the nine directors of Tianwei Yingli. Tianwei Baobian is also entitled to appoint a director to serve as the chairperson of the board of Tianwei Yingli. Tianwei Baobian may have different views and approaches with respect to the management and operation of Tianwei Yingli from those of us. Tianwei Baobian may disagree with us in the management and operation of Tianwei Yingli and may vote against actions that we believe are in the best interest of Tianwei Yingli or us. For example,

directors appointed by Tianwei Baobian may vote against matters that require unanimous approval of all directors. Directors appointed by Tianwei Baobian may also hinder or delay adoption of relevant resolutions by not attending a board meeting, thereby preventing achievement of a quorum and forcing the meeting to be postponed for no more than seven days. See “Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company — Restructuring — Joint Venture Contract — Tianwei Yingli’s Management Structure — Board of Directors.” Due to Tianwei Baobian’s ability to exercise influence over Tianwei Yingli through its appointed directors, and through its other rights under the joint venture contract, any significant deterioration of our relationship or our disagreement with Tianwei Baobian may cause disruption to Tianwei Yingli’s business, which could in turn result in a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Tianwei Baobian may also have disagreement or dispute with us with respect to our respective rights and obligations on matters such as the exercise of Tianwei Baobian’s right to subscribe for ordinary shares newly issued by us in exchange for its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. Except in limited circumstances, we may not be able to unilaterally terminate the joint venture contract in the event of such disagreement or dispute even if such termination would be in our best interest. See “Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company — Restructuring — Joint Venture Contract — Tianwei Yingli’s Management Structure — Unilateral Termination of the Joint Venture Contract.” Any such disputes may result in costly and time-consuming litigations or other dispute resolution proceedings which may significantly divert the efforts and resources of our management and disrupt our business operations.

 

Furthermore, Tianwei Baobian may transfer all or a part of its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli pursuant to the joint venture contract entered into between Tianwei Baobian and us. If we fail to exercise our right of first refusal in accordance with the procedures set forth in the joint venture contract and are thus deemed to have consented to any such proposed transfer by Tianwei Baobian to a third party or if Tianwei Baobian transfers its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli to its affiliates, such third party or such Tianwei Baobian’s affiliate will become a holder of Tianwei Yingli’s equity interest. The interests of such third party or such Tianwei Baobian’s affiliate may not be aligned with our interests or the interest of Tianwei Yingli. See “Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company — Restructuring — Joint Venture Contract — Tianwei Yingli’s Management Structure — Right of First Refusal.”

 

In addition, the Baoding State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission completed the transfer of all of its equity interest in Tianwei Group, Tianwei Baobian’s controlling shareholder, to China South Industries Group Corporation, or China South. It is unclear how Tianwei Baobian’s business strategy with respect to its shareholding in Tianwei Yingli will change subsequent to the acquisition by China South of Tianwei Group and how such change, if any, will affect the management and operation of Tianwei Yingli.

 

Furthermore, Tianwei Baobian may exercise the subscription right, and if it exercises the subscription right, it will become a significant shareholder of us. If Tianwei Baobian becomes our shareholder, it will have significant influence over our and Tianwei Yingli’s business, including decisions regarding mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our or Tianwei Yingli’s assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. If Tianwei Baobian becomes our shareholder, its interests may not be aligned with ours or our shareholders.

 

We may not be able to obtain adequate funding to acquire the equity interest in Tianwei Yingli held by Tianwei Baobian.

 

Under the joint venture contract entered into between Tianwei Baobian and us, Tianwei Baobian may request us to make best efforts to purchase from Tianwei Baobian all but not part of its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. Upon such request by Tianwei Baobian, we will undertake to use our best efforts to assist Tianwei Baobian in completing the transfer of such equity interest held by Tianwei Baobian. The manner and the price at which Tianwei Baobian sells its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli will be decided by mutual agreement between Tianwei Baobian and us based on the fair market value of its and our equity interest in Tianwei Yingli, respectively, and in accordance with relevant PRC laws and regulations. If the purchase of Tianwei Baobian’s equity interest in Tianwei Yingli is required to be paid in cash, we may not be able to obtain adequate funding in time and on terms acceptable to us, if at all, to pay for such purchase price.

Negative rumors or media coverage of Tianwei Baobian, our affiliates or business partners, could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business and financial condition.

 

Since all of Tianwei Yingli’s equity interests are held together by us and Tianwei Baobian, negative rumors or media coverage of Tianwei Baobian, whether or not accurate and whether or not applicable to us, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition. For example, in October 2006, there were news articles containing allegations, among others, that Tianwei Baobian had materially overstated its results of operations related to the export sales of Tianwei Yingli’s PV product components and its local tax rates in its published financial statements. We cannot assure you that there will not be similar or other negative rumors or media coverage related to Tianwei Baobian, our affiliates or business partners in the future.

 

If the parent company of our minority partner in Tianwei Yingli or any affiliate of such parent company engages in sanctioned activities inconsistent with the laws and policies of other countries, the reputation of Tianwei Yingli and us may be negatively affected. As a result, some of our shareholders may divest our shares and prospective investors may decide not to invest in our shares, which may cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

 

The United States and other countries maintain economic and other sanctions against several countries, or the sanctioned countries, and persons engaged in specified activities, such as support of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of terrorism. Baoding Tianwei Group Corporation, or Tianwei Group, the parent company of Tianwei Baobian, our minority joint venture partner which owns 25.99% in one of our operating subsidiaries, Tianwei Yingli, was acquired by China South in March 2008. There have been news reports that China South, Tianwei Group and Tianwei Baobian conducted construction activities in or exported transformers to some sanctioned countries, including Iran and Sudan, in recent years. China North Industries Corporation, or Norinco, an affiliate of China South, was designated by the U.S. State Department under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 as engaged in the transfer to Iran of equipment and technology having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction. Norinco was also reported to have had activities in and exported products to some sanctioned countries, including Iran, Sudan and Syria, some of which include military products and applications. In addition, Norinco is listed as one of the prohibited companies by some state and municipal governments, universities and investors due to its business relationships with the sanctioned countries. Certain of the sanctioned countries in which China South, Tianwei Group, Tianwei Baobian and Norinco have been reported to have had activities, such as Iran, Syria and Sudan, are identified by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism and are subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls.

 

We have no control over Tianwei Baobian, Tianwei Group, China South, Norinco or other affiliated entities resulted from China South’s acquisition of Tianwei Group, nor has any of such entities requested Tianwei Yingli or us to have contacts with or otherwise conduct any sanctioned activity in any of the sanctioned countries. However, to the extent such affiliated entities are involved in activities that, if performed by a U.S. person, would be illegal under U.S. sanctions, or if any of such affiliated entities becomes subject of any economic sanctions maintained by the United States or other countries or entities, reputational issues relating to Tianwei Yingli or us may arise, and the investor sentiment with respect to our ADSs may be affected. Investors in the United States may believe that the value of their investment in us may be adversely affected due to our affiliation with such entities, or they may choose not to invest in, and to divest any investments in, issuers that are associated even indirectly with sanctioned activities or sanctioned countries. Any negative investor sentiment as the result of such reputational issues may cause the price of our ADSs to decline and adversely affect the value or your investment in us.

 

Our joint venture partner, Tianwei Baobian, has entered into competing businesses with us which may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our joint venture contract with Tianwei Baobian and Tianwei Yingli’s articles of association does not impose non-competition restrictions upon Tianwei Baobian. While Tianwei Baobian’s current principal business is the manufacture of large electricity transformers, Tianwei Baobian has entered into the PV business

through investments in various companies that are engaged in the manufacture of polysilicon, ingots, wafers, PV cells or PV modules and thin film modules. As these companies continue to expand their business, they may compete with us for both supply of raw materials and customers, and we may not have any legal right to prevent them from doing so. In addition, the parent of Tianwei Baobian has also made investments in the PV business. Because of Tianwei Baobian’s familiarity with and its ability to influence Tianwei Yingli’s business, competition from Tianwei Baobian or its affiliates could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The grant of employee share options and other share-based compensation could adversely affect our net income.

 

We adopted our 2006 stock incentive plan in December 2006. Our board of directors approved in April 2007 and our shareholders approved in May 2007 amendment No. 1 to the 2006 stock incentive plan to increase the number of ordinary shares we are authorized to issue under the 2006 stock incentive plan. Our board of directors approved in July 2009 and our shareholders approved in August 2009 amendment No. 2 to the 2006 stock incentive plan to increase the number of ordinary shares we are authorized to issue under the 2006 stock incentive plan. Under the 2006 stock incentive plan, as amended, we may grant to our directors, employees and consultants up to 2,715,243 restricted shares and options to purchase up to 10,030,195 of our ordinary shares. As of the date of this annual report, we have granted to 9 executive officers, 242 employees, 13 non-employee and 4 independent directors options to purchase 5,193,800 ordinary shares in the aggregate (excluding forfeited options) and an aggregate of 513,316 restricted but unvested shares (excluding forfeited restricted shares) to DBS Trustee Limited, or the trustee, for the benefit of 66 directors, officers, employees and one non-employee. See “Item 6.B. Directors, Senior Management and Employees — Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers — 2006 Stock Incentive Plan.” We account for compensation costs for all share-based awards including share options granted to our directors and employees using a fair-value based method, which may have a material and adverse effect on our reported earnings. Moreover, the additional expenses associated with share-based compensation may reduce the attractiveness of such incentive plan to us. However, if we reduce the scope of our stock incentive plan, we may not be able to attract and retain key personnel, as share options are an important tool to recruit and retain qualified and desirable employees.

 

New labor laws in the PRC may adversely affect our results of operations.

 

On June 29, 2007, the PRC government promulgated a new labor law, namely, the Labor Contract Law of the PRC, or the New Labor Contract Law, which became effective on January 1, 2008. The Implementation Rules of the New Labor Contract Law were subsequently promulgated and became effective on September 18, 2008. The PRC government also promulgated the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes on December 29, 2007, which came into effect on May 1, 2008. The New Labor Contract Law imposes stricter requirements in terms of, among other things, signing labor contracts, minimum wages, paying remuneration, stipulating probation and penalties and dissolving labor contracts. It also requires the terms of employment contracts to be placed in writing within one month of the commencement of an employment relationship, which may make hiring temporary workers more difficult. In addition, under the Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees, which became effective on January 1, 2008, employees who have served more than one year for an employer are entitled to a paid vacation ranging from 5 to 15 days, depending on the number of the employee’s working years at the employer. Employees who waive such vacation time at the request of employers shall be compensated for three times their regular salaries for each waived vacation day. As a result of these new measures designed to enhance labor protection, our labor costs have increased, which may adversely affect our business and our results of operations. These newly enacted labor laws and regulations also impose greater liabilities on employers and may significantly increase the costs to an employer if it decides to reduce its workforce. In the event we decide to significantly change or decrease our workforce, the New Labor Contract Law could adversely affect our ability to enact such changes in a manner that is most advantageous to our business or in a timely and cost effective manner, which may materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our results of operations are difficult to predict, and if we do not meet the market expectations, the price of our ADSs or our convertible notes will likely decline.

 

Our results of operations are difficult to predict and have fluctuated from time to time in the past. We expect that our results of operations may continue to fluctuate from time to time in the future. It is possible that our results of operations in some reporting periods will be below market expectations. Our results of operations will be affected by a number of factors as set forth in “Item 5 — Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.” If our results of operations for a particular reporting period are lower than the market expectations for such reporting period, investors may react negatively, and as a result, the price of our ADSs or our convertible notes may materially decline.

 

Evaluating our business and prospects may be difficult because of our limited operating history.

 

There is limited historical information available about us upon which you can base your evaluation of our business and prospects. We started selling PV modules in January 2003 and have experienced a high growth rate since then. As a result, our historical results of operations may not provide a meaningful basis for evaluating our business, financial performance and prospects. We may not be able to achieve a similar growth rate in future periods and at higher volumes. Accordingly, you should not rely on our results of operations for any prior periods as an indication of our future performance. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks, expenses and challenges that we will face as an early-stage company seeking to develop and manufacture new products in a rapidly developing market.

 

Our limited intellectual property protection inside and outside of China may undermine our competitive position and subject us to intellectual property disputes with third parties, both of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

As of May 2, 2011, we had a total of 60 issued patents in China and had made 70 patent applications. Other than the know-how available in the public domain, we have developed in-house unpatented technical know-how that we use to manufacture our products. Many elements of our manufacturing processes involve proprietary know-how, technology or data, either developed by us in-house or transferred to us by our equipment suppliers, which are not covered by patents or patent applications, including manufacturing technologies and processes and production line and equipment designs. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, anti-unfair competition and trade secret laws, as well as nondisclosure agreements and other methods to protect our intellectual property rights. Nevertheless, these measures provide only limited protection and the actions we take to protect our intellectual property rights may not be adequate. Third parties may infringe or misappropriate our proprietary technologies or our other intellectual property rights, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Policing the unauthorized use of proprietary technology can be difficult and expensive. Also, litigation may be necessary to protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. We cannot assure you that the outcome of such potential litigation will be in our favor. Such litigation may be costly and may divert management attention as well as our other resources away from our business. In addition, we have no insurance coverage against litigation costs and would have to bear all costs arising from such litigation to the extent we are unable to recover them from other parties. An adverse determination in any such litigation could result in the loss of our intellectual property rights and may harm our business, prospects and reputation.

 

We have exported, and expect to continue to export, a substantial portion of our PV products outside of China. Because we do not have, and have not applied for, any patents for our proprietary technologies outside of China, it is possible that others may independently develop substantially equivalent technologies or otherwise gain access to our proprietary technologies and obtain patents for such intellectual properties in other jurisdictions, including the countries to which we export our PV modules. If any third parties are successful in obtaining patents for technologies that are substantially equivalent to or the same as our proprietary technologies in any of our markets before we are and enforce their intellectual property rights against us, our ability to sell products containing the allegedly infringing intellectual property in those markets will be materially and adversely affected. If we are required to stop selling such allegedly infringing products, seek license and pay royalties for the relevant intellectual properties or redesign such products with non-

infringing technologies, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.

 

We may be exposed to infringement or misappropriation claims by third parties, which, if determined adversely to us, could cause us to pay significant damage awards.

 

Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to use and develop technology and know-how without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties. The validity and scope of claims relating to PV technology patents involve complex scientific, legal and factual questions and analysis and, therefore, may be highly uncertain.

 

The steps we take in our product development to ensure that we are not infringing the existing intellectual property rights of others, such as review of related patents and patent applications prior to our product developments, may not be adequate. While we are not currently aware of any action pending or threatened against us, we may be subject to litigation involving claims of patent infringement or violation of intellectual property rights of third parties. The defense and prosecution of intellectual property suits and related legal and administrative proceedings can be both costly and time-consuming and may significantly divert the efforts and resources of our technical and management personnel. An adverse determination in any such litigation or proceedings to which we may become a party could subject us to significant liability to third parties, require us to seek licenses from third parties, to pay ongoing royalties, or to redesign our PV modules or subject us to injunctions prohibiting the manufacture and sale of our PV modules or the use of our technologies. Protracted litigation could also cause our customers or potential customers to defer or limit their purchase or use of our PV modules until the resolution of such litigation.

 

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our executive officers and key technical personnel, and our ability to maintain a skilled labor force. Our business may be materially and adversely affected if we lose their services.

 

Our future success depends substantially on the continued services of our executive officers, in particular Liansheng Miao, our chief executive officer, Xiangdong Wang, our vice president, Zhiheng Zhao, our vice president, Zongwei Li, our chief financial officer, Xiaoqiang Zheng, our chief operating officer, Dengyuan Song, our chief technology officer and Jingfeng Xiong, our vice president. We do not maintain key man life insurance on any of our executive officers. If one or more of our executive officers are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them readily, if at all. In addition, if any of our executive officers join a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose some of our customers. Each of our executive officers has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains confidentiality and non-competition provisions. However, if any disputes were to arise between one of our executive officers and us, we cannot assure you of the extent to which such officer’s employment agreement could be enforced in China.

 

Furthermore, recruiting and retaining capable personnel, particularly experienced engineers and technicians familiar with our PV products manufacturing processes, is vital to maintaining the quality of our PV products and to continuously improving our production methods. There is substantial competition for qualified technical personnel, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain qualified technical personnel. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified employees, key technical personnel and our executive officers, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Failure to manage our growth, or otherwise develop appropriate internal organizational structures, internal control environment and risk monitoring and management systems in line with our fast growth could result in a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our business and operations have been expanding rapidly. Significant management resources must be expended to develop and implement appropriate structures for internal organization and information flow, an effective internal control environment and risk monitoring and management systems in line with our fast

growth as well as to hire and integrate qualified employees into our organization. It is challenging for us to hire, integrate and retain qualified employees in key areas of operations, such as engineers and technicians who are familiar with the PV industry. In addition, disclosure and other ongoing obligations associated with being a public company further increase the challenges to our finance, legal and accounting team. It is possible that our existing risk monitoring and management system could prove to be inadequate. If we fail to appropriately develop and implement structures for internal organization and information flow, an effective internal control environment and a risk monitoring and management system, we may not be able to identify unfavorable business trends, administrative oversights or other risks that could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Compliance with construction and environmental regulations can be expensive, and noncompliance with present or future construction and environment regulations may result in adverse publicity, potentially significant monetary damages and fines and supervision of our business operations.

 

Historically, we had started construction and operation of certain of our facilities without having obtained all of the necessary construction permits as required under the relevant regulations. We are also constructing certain facilities as part of our capacity expansion projects while applying for the relevant construction permits. Both our prior and current failure to obtain the relevant construction permits before the commencement of construction of our facilities may subject us to fines or penalties, which may adversely affect our construction process, business operations and results of operations.

 

In addition, the failure by us to control the use of, or to adequately restrict the discharge of, hazardous substances could subject us to potentially significant monetary damages and fines or suspensions in our business operations. Our manufacturing processes generate noise, waste water, gaseous and other industrial wastes and are required to comply with national and local regulations regarding environmental protection. We believe we are currently in compliance with present environmental protection requirements in all material respects, and have obtained all necessary environmental permits. In addition, if more stringent regulations are adopted in the future, the costs of compliance with these new regulations could be substantial. If we fail to comply with any future environmental regulations, we may be required to pay substantial fines, suspend production or cease operations. See “Item 4.B. Business Overview — PRC Government Regulations — Environmental Regulations”.

 

Negative publicity of us, or our affiliates, could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business and operating results.

 

Negative publicity of us, or our affiliates, whether or not accurate and whether or not applicable to us, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition. In addition, historically there has been negative publicity of us, and our affiliates. We cannot assure you that there will not be additional negative publicity of the similar nature in the future. Any such negative publicity, regardless of its veracity, could harm our reputation and in turn adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

The ordinary shares underlying our ADSs purchased or received upon the conversion of the convertible notes could become redeemable by us without your approval.

 

Under the express terms of our ordinary shares, the ordinary shares underlying the ADSs in our issued and outstanding share capital are not, and the ordinary shares receivable upon the conversion of the convertible notes will not be, redeemable. However, our board of directors may pass resolutions to allow us to redeem the ordinary shares from the holders and two-thirds of the votes cast by the holders of the ordinary shares may approve such variation of share rights. The minority shareholders will not be able to prevent their share rights being varied in such a way and their ordinary shares could become redeemable by us as a result.

We have adopted a shareholders rights plan, which, together with the other anti-takeover provisions of our articles of association, could discourage a third party from acquiring us, which could limit our shareholders’ opportunity to sell their shares, including ordinary shares represented by our ADSs, at a premium.

 

Our current articles of association contain provisions that limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions. On October 17, 2007, our board of directors adopted a shareholders rights plan, which was amended on June 2, 2008. Under this rights plan, one right was distributed with respect to each of our ordinary shares outstanding at the closing of business on October 26, 2007. These rights entitle the holders to purchase ordinary shares from us at half of the market price at the time of purchase in the event that a person or group obtains ownership of 15% or more of our ordinary shares (including by acquisition of the ADSs representing an ownership interest in the ordinary shares) or enters into an acquisition transaction without the approval of our board of directors.

 

This rights plan and the other anti-takeover provisions of our articles of association could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transaction. Our existing authorized ordinary shares confer on the holders of our ordinary shares equal rights, privileges and restrictions. The shareholders have, by virtue of adoption of our third amended and restated articles of association, authorized the issuance of shares of par value of US$0.01 each without specifying any special rights, privileges and restrictions. Therefore, our board of directors may, without further action by our shareholders, issue our ordinary shares, or issue shares of such class and attach to such shares special rights, privileges or restrictions, which may be different from those associated with our ordinary shares. Preferred shares could also be issued quickly with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control of our company or make removal of management more difficult. If our board of directors decides to issue ordinary shares or issue preferred shares, the price of our ADSs and the notes may fall and the voting and other rights of the holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

 

A simple majority of the holders of our shares who vote at a general meeting may sub-divide any of our shares into shares of a smaller par value and may determine that, among the shares so sub-divided, some of such shares may have preferred or other rights or restrictions that are different from those applicable to other such shares.

 

Under our articles of association, a simple majority of the holders of our shares who vote at a general meeting may sub-divide any of our shares into shares of a smaller par value than is fixed by our articles of association, subject to the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands, and may by such resolution determine that, among the shares so sub-divided, some of such shares may have preferred or other rights or restrictions that are different from those applicable to the other such shares resulting from the sub-division. Any sub-divided shares will be allocated on a pro-rated basis among the holders of our shares, and a two-thirds vote of any class of shares having special rights or restrictions as a result of such sub-division will be required to further vary the special rights or restrictions attached to such shares. The purpose of this provision is to give flexibility to the shareholders to vary the share capital by effecting a sub-division and alter the rights attaching to the sub-divided shares in order to facilitate transactions where shareholders provide benefits or contribute assets to the Company in consideration of an enhancement of the rights of their shares rather than an issue of new shares. However, as the minority shareholders will not be able to prevent the majority shareholders from effecting such sub-division and designation of special rights or restrictions, such rights of our majority shareholders may discourage investors making an investment in us, which may have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs and the notes.

 

The quorum for the general meeting of our shareholders is one-third of our issued voting shares. Accordingly, shareholder resolutions may be passed without the presence of the majority of our shareholders in person or by proxy.

 

The quorum required for the general meeting of our shareholders is two shareholders entitled to vote and present in person or by proxy or, if the shareholder is a corporation, by its duly authorized representative

representing not less than one-third in nominal value of our total issued voting shares. Therefore, subject to obtaining the requisite approval from a majority of the shareholders so present, a shareholder resolution may be passed at our shareholder meetings without the presence of the majority of our shareholders present in person or by proxy. Such rights by the holders of the minority of our shares may discourage investors from making an investment in us, which may have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs and the notes.

 

If a poll is not demanded at our shareholder meetings, voting will be by show of hands and shares will not be proportionately represented.

 

Voting at any of our shareholder meetings is by show of hands unless a poll is demanded. A poll may be demanded by the chairperson of the meeting, or by at least three shareholders present in person or by proxy, or by any shareholder or shareholders present in person or by proxy holding at least 10% of the total voting rights of all shareholders having the right to vote at the meeting, or by a shareholder or shareholders present in person or by proxy holding shares conferring a right to vote at the meeting being shares on which an aggregate sum has been paid up equal to not less than one-tenth of the total sum paid up on the shares conferring that right. If a poll is demanded, each shareholder present in person or by proxy will have one vote for each ordinary share registered in his name. If a poll is not demanded, voting will be by show of hands and each shareholder present in person or by proxy will have one vote regardless of the number of shares registered in his name. In the absence of a poll, shares will therefore not be proportionately represented.

 

If we are or become a passive foreign investment company, or a PFIC, it could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.

 

We believe that we were not a PFIC for our taxable year ended on December 31, 2010, and we do not expect to become one for our current taxable year or in the future, although there can be no assurance in this regard. If, however, we are or become a PFIC, U.S. investors could be subject to additional U.S. federal income taxes on gain recognized with respect to the ADSs or ordinary shares and on certain distributions, plus an interest charge on certain taxes treated as having been deferred under the PFIC rules. Non-corporate U.S. investors will not be eligible for reduced rates of taxation on any dividends received from us, if we are a PFIC in the taxable year in which such dividends are paid or in the preceding taxable year. U.S. investors are urged to consult their tax advisors concerning the U.S. federal income tax consequences of holding ADSs or ordinary shares if we are considered a PFIC in any taxable year.

 

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

 

Adverse changes in political and economic policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could reduce the demand for our products and materially and adversely affect our competitive position.

 

Our business is based in China and some of our sales are made in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by economic, political and legal developments in China. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including:

 

 

While the Chinese economy has grown significantly in the past 20 years, the growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial

condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us.

 

In addition, we cannot assure you that the Chinese economy will continue to grow, or that if there is growth, such growth will be steady and uniform, or that if there is a slowdown, such slowdown will not have a negative effect on our business. For example, due to the impact of the global financial crisis, the growth rate of China’s gross domestic product has slowed down in recent years, from 9.6% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2009. As a result, beginning in September 2008, among other measures, the PRC government began to loosen macroeconomic measures and monetary policies by reducing interest rates and decreasing the statutory reserve rates for banks. Although the growth rate of China’s gross domestic product rebounded to 10.3% in 2010, there is uncertainty with respect to the Chinese economic policies for 2011 and beyond. We cannot assure you that the various macroeconomic measures, monetary policies and economic stimulus package adopted by the PRC government to guide economic growth and the allocation of resources will be effective in sustaining the fast growth rate of the Chinese economy.

 

The Chinese economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market-oriented economy. Although in recent years the PRC government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of sound corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of the productive assets in China is still owned by the PRC government. The continued control of these assets and other aspects of the national economy by the PRC government could materially and adversely affect our business. The PRC government also exercises significant control over Chinese economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

 

Any adverse change in the economic conditions or government policies in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth and the level of renewable energy investments and expenditures in China, which in turn could lead to a reduction in demand for our products and consequently have a material adverse effect on our businesses.

 

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could have a material adverse effect on us.

 

We are incorporated in Cayman Islands and are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China and, in particular, laws applicable to Sino-foreign equity joint venture companies and wholly foreign owned companies. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since 1979, PRC legislation and regulations have significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties, which may limit legal protections available to us. In addition, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

 

The PRC rule on mergers and acquisitions may subject us to sanctions, fines and other penalties and affect our future business growth through acquisition of complementary business.

 

On August 8, 2006, six PRC government and regulatory authorities, including the PRC Ministry of Commerce, or the MOFCOM, and the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission, or the CSRC, promulgated a rule entitled “Provisions regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors”, or the M&A Rule, which became effective on September 8, 2006 and was amended on June 22, 2009. The M&A Rule, as amended, among other things, established procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. In the future, we may grow our business in part by acquiring complementary businesses, although we do not have any plans to do so at this time. Complying with

the requirements of the M&A Rule, as amended, to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the MOFCOM, may delay or inhibit the completion of such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

 

PRC regulations relating to overseas investment by PRC residents may restrict our overseas and cross-border investment activities and adversely affect the implementation of our strategy as well as our business and prospects.

 

In 2005, the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, issued a number of rules regarding offshore investments by PRC residents. The rule currently in effect, the Notice on Issues Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-Raising and Return Investment Activities of Domestic Residents Conducted Via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, known as SAFE Notice 75, was issued in October 2005 and the complementation procedures of such rules have been further clarified by Circular No. 106 issued by SAFE on May 29, 2007. SAFE Notice 75 requires PRC residents to register with and/or receive approvals from SAFE in connection with certain offshore investment activities. Since we are a Cayman Islands company with a substantial portion of shares held by Yingli Power Holding Company Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company controlled by Mr. Liansheng Miao, our chairperson and chief executive officer and a PRC resident, Mr. Miao is subject to the registration requirements under SAFE Notice 75.

 

Mr. Miao made the requisite SAFE registration with respect to his investment in Yingli Power Holding Company Ltd. and us in August 2006. Mr. Miao amended his SAFE registration in June 2007, January 2008 and October 2009, in connection with our initial public offering in June 2007, the secondary and convertible senior notes offerings in December 2007, the issuance of senior secured convertible notes and the follow-on offering in 2009, respectively. We have requested our other beneficial owners who are PRC residents to make the necessary applications and filings in connection with our offshore financing transactions as required under SAFE Notice 75 and its implementation rules. However, we cannot assure you that all of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents have complied with our request to apply for or obtain any registrations or approvals required under these or other regulations or legislation.

 

If Mr. Miao or any of our other beneficial owners who are PRC residents fails to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Notice 75, Mr. Miao or such beneficial owner who is a PRC resident could be subject to fines and legal penalties and Tianwei Yingli could face restrictions on its foreign currency exchange activities, including the payment of dividends and other distributions to its equity interest holders and Tianwei Yingli’s ability to receive capital from us. Any of these events could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, acquisition opportunities, financing alternatives and our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders. See “Item 4.B. Business Overview — PRC Government Regulations — Regulation of Foreign Exchange in Certain Onshore and Offshore Transactions”.

 

Dividends we may receive from our operating subsidiaries located in the PRC may be subject to PRC withholding tax.

 

The Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the EIT Law, and its implementation rules provide that an income tax rate of 10% may be applicable to dividends payable to non-PRC investors that are “non-resident enterprises”, to the extent such dividends are derived from sources within the PRC, unless any such non-PRC investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China that provides for a different withholding arrangement. Furthermore, a circular issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on February 22, 2008 stipulates that undistributed earnings generated prior to January 1, 2008 are exempt from enterprise income tax. We are a Cayman Islands holding company, Yingli International is a British Virgin Islands intermediate holding company and Cyber Lighting is a Hong Kong intermediate holding company. The Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands where such holding companies are incorporated do not have a tax treaty with China. According to the Arrangement between Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income entered into in August 2006, or the Mainland and the Hong Kong Taxation Arrangement, subject to the confirmation of the in-charge local tax authority, dividends paid by a foreign-invested enterprise

in China to its direct holding company in Hong Kong will be subject to withholding tax at a rate of no more than 5%, the foreign investor is the “beneficial owner” and owns directly at least 25% the equity interest of the foreign-invested enterprise. Furthermore, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Notice on How to Understand and Determine the Beneficial Owners in Tax Agreement in October 2009, or Circular 601, which provides guidance for determining whether a resident of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an item of income under China’s tax treaties and tax arrangements. According to Circular 601, a beneficial owner generally must be engaged in substantive business activities. An agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not qualify for treaty benefits. A conduit company normally refers to a company that is set up for the purpose of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. Substantially all of our income may be derived from dividends we receive from our operating subsidiaries located in the PRC. Thus, dividends for earnings accumulated beginning on January 1, 2008 payable to us by our subsidiaries in China, if any, will be subject to a 10% income tax or, in the case of the dividends paid to Cyber Lighting, 5% income tax (subject to the confirmation of the local tax authority), if we are considered as “non-resident enterprises” under the EIT Law. We intend to reinvest indefinitely undistributed earnings generated in 2010 and therefore have not recognized a deferred tax liability for those earnings. If we are subject under the EIT Law to such income tax for any dividends we may receive from our subsidiaries, it will materially and adversely increase our income tax expense.

 

We and some of our subsidiaries may be deemed resident enterprises under the EIT Law and be subject to PRC taxation as to our worldwide income.

 

The EIT Law also provides that enterprises established outside of China whose “de facto management bodies” are located in China are considered “resident enterprises” and are generally subject to the uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate as to their worldwide income. Under the implementation rules for the EIT Law issued by the State Council, a “de facto management body” is defined as a body that has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors of an enterprise. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Overseas Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82 which sets out criteria for determining whether “de facto management bodies” are located in China for overseas incorporated, domestically controlled enterprises. However, as this circular only applies to enterprises incorporated under laws of foreign countries or regions that are controlled by PRC enterprises or groups of PRC enterprises, it remains unclear how the tax authorities will determine the location of “de facto management bodies” for overseas incorporated enterprises that are controlled by individual PRC residents like us and some of our subsidiaries. Therefore, although substantially all of our management is currently located in the PRC, it remains unclear whether the PRC tax authorities would require or permit our overseas registered entities to be treated as PRC resident enterprises. If the PRC tax authorities determine that Yingli Green Energy and some of our subsidiaries, such as Yingli International, Yingli Capital, Yingli Hong Kong, Cyber Power and Cyber Lighting, are PRC resident enterprises, we and such subsidiaries may be subject to the enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% as to our global income, which could have an impact on our effective tax rate and an adverse effect on our net income and results of operations, although dividends distributed from our PRC subsidiaries to us would be exempt from the PRC dividend withholding tax, since such income distribution is exempted under the EIT Law if paid to PRC resident recipients.

 

Dividends payable by us to non-PRC holders of our ordinary shares or ADS and gains on the sale of our ordinary shares or ADSs may become subject to taxes under PRC tax laws.

 

Under the EIT Law and implementation rules issued by the State Council, PRC income tax at the rate of 10% is applicable to payments of dividends to investors that are “non-resident enterprises,” which do not have an establishment or place of business in the PRC, or which have such establishment or place of business but the relevant income is not effectively connected with the establishment or place of business, to the extent such payments of dividends have their sources within the PRC. Similarly, any gain realized on the transfer of ADSs or ordinary shares by such investors is also subject to the 10% PRC income tax if such gain constitutes income derived from sources within the PRC. It is currently unclear what constitutes income derived from sources

within the PRC. Therefore, it is unclear whether dividends we may pay with respect to our ordinary shares or ADSs, or the gain you may realize from the transfer of our ordinary shares or ADSs, would be treated as income derived from sources within the PRC and be subject to PRC tax. Furthermore, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Notice on How to Understand and Determine the Beneficial Owners in Tax Agreement in October 2009, or Circular 601, which provides guidance for determining whether a resident of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an item of income under China’s tax treaties and tax arrangements. According to Circular 601, a beneficial owner generally must be engaged in substantive business activities. An agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not qualify for treaty benefits. A conduit company normally refers to a company that is set up for the purpose of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. We cannot assure you that any dividends to be distributed by us to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders whose jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China providing for a different withholding arrangement will be entitled to the benefits under the relevant withholding arrangement.

 

If we are required under the EIT Law to withhold PRC income tax on dividends payable to non-PRC holders of our ordinary shares or ADSs, or if you are required to pay PRC income tax on the transfer of our ordinary shares or ADSs, the value of your investment in our ordinary shares or ADSs may be materially and adversely affected.

 

The strengthened scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our acquisition strategy.

 

In order to strengthen their scrutiny over the direct or indirect transfer of equity interest in a PRC resident enterprise by a non-resident enterprise, the PRC State Administration of Taxation issued, on December 10, 2009, the Notice on Strengthening the Management on Enterprise Income Tax for Non-resident Enterprises Equity Transfer, or Circular 698, which became effective retroactively on January 1, 2008. Under Circular 698, the PRC State Administration of Taxation has the authority to redefine the nature of an equity transfer where offshore vehicles are interposed for tax-avoidance purposes and without reasonable commercial purpose. Since we consistently pursue acquisitions as one of our growth strategies, and have conducted and may conduct acquisitions involving complex corporate structures, the PRC tax authorities may, at their discretion, adjust the capital gains or request us to submit additional documentation for their review in connection with any of our acquisitions, thus causing us to incur additional acquisition costs.

 

Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to receive dividends from our PRC subsidiaries and their ability to obtain overseas financing.

 

Under the Foreign Currency Administration Rules, the foreign exchange incomes of domestic entities and individuals can be remitted into China or deposited abroad, subject to the terms and conditions to be issued by SAFE. Our PRC subsidiaries are able to pay dividends to their shareholders, including us, in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not take measures in the future to restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions, including payment of such dividends.

 

Foreign exchange transactions for capital account items, such as direct equity investments, loans and repatriation of investments, by our PRC subsidiaries continue to be subject to significant foreign exchange controls and require the approval of PRC governmental authorities, including SAFE. In particular, if our PRC subsidiaries borrow foreign currency-denominated loans from us or other foreign lenders, these loans must be registered with the local offices of SAFE. These limitations could affect their ability to obtain additional equity or debt funding that is denominated in foreign currencies.

 

PRC regulation of direct investment and loans by offshore holding companies to PRC entities may delay or limit us from making additional capital contributions or loans to our PRC subsidiaries.

 

Any capital contributions or loans that we, as an offshore entity, make to our PRC subsidiaries, are subject to PRC regulations. For example, any of our loans to our PRC subsidiaries cannot exceed the

difference between the total amount of investment our PRC subsidiaries are approved to make under relevant PRC laws and the respective registered capital of our PRC subsidiaries, and must be registered with the local branch of SAFE as a procedural matter. In addition, our capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries must be approved by MOFCOM or its local counterpart. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these approvals on a timely basis, or at all. If we fail to obtain such approvals, our ability to make equity contributions or provide loans to our PRC subsidiaries or to fund their operations may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect their liquidity and its ability to fund its working capital and expansion projects and meet its obligations and commitments.

 

In addition, our capital contributions and, in limited circumstances, loans, to Tianwei Yingli are also subject to approvals by Tianwei Baobian, the holder of the minority equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. See “Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company — Joint Venture Contract — Increase or Reduction of Tianwei Yingli’s Registered Capital.”

 

We rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC operating subsidiaries and limitations on their ability to pay dividends to us could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

We are a holding company and we rely principally on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC operating subsidiaries, including Tianwei Yingli, Yingli China, Fine Silicon and Hainan Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., or Hainan Yingli, a PRC limited liability company and a majority-owned subsidiary of Yingli China, for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders, service any debt we may incur and pay our operating expenses. If Tianwei Yingli, Yingli China, Fine Silicon or Hainan Yingli incurs debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.

 

As entities established in China, Tianwei Yingli, Yingli China, Fine Silicon and Hainan Yingli are subject to certain limitations with respect to dividend payments. PRC regulations currently permit payment of dividends only out of accumulated profits as determined in accordance with accounting standards and regulations in China. As a Sino-foreign equity joint venture, Tianwei Yingli is also required to set aside each year a percentage, as decided by its board of directors, of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to its reserve fund, enterprise development fund and employee bonus and welfare fund. As of December 31, 2010, such restricted reserves of Tianwei Yingli amounted to RMB 240.9 million (US$36.5 million) and its accumulated profits that were unrestricted and were available for distribution amounted to RMB 3,173.7 million (US$480.9 million). As a foreign investment enterprise, each of Yingli China and Fine Silicon is required to allocate at least 10% of its after-tax profits to its reserve fund until the cumulative amount of such reserve fund reaches 50% of its registered capital, and to set aside a certain amount of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to its employee bonus and welfare fund. These reserves may not be distributed as cash dividends. As of December 31, 2010, such restricted reserves of Yingli China amounted to RMB 123.5 million (US$18.7 million), and its accumulated profits that was unrestricted and was available for distribution amounted to RMB 1,027.3 million (US$155.7 million). As a PRC domestic company, Hainan Yingli is required to allocate at least 10% of its after-tax profits to its reserve fund until the cumulative amount of such reserve fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. These reserves may not be distributed as cash dividends. As of December 31, 2010, such restricted reserves of Hainan Yingli amounted to RMB 12.0 million (US$1.8 million) and its accumulated profits that were unrestricted and were available for distribution amounted to RMB 107.1 million (US$16.2 million). In addition, if any of our PRC operating subsidiaries incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict its ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. Limitations on the ability of our PRC operating subsidiaries to pay dividends to us could adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our businesses, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business. Accordingly, if for any of the above or other reasons, we can not receive dividends from our PRC operating subsidiaries, our liquidity, financial condition and ability to make dividend distributions to our shareholders will be materially and adversely affected.

SAFE rules and regulations may limit our ability to convert and transfer the net proceeds from our financings to our PRC subsidiaries, which may adversely affect the business expansions of our PRC subsidiaries, and we may not be able to convert the net proceeds from our financings into Renminbi to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies.

 

On August 29, 2008, SAFE promulgated Circular 142, or SAFE Notice 142, a notice regulating the conversion by a foreign invested company of foreign currency into Renminbi by restricting how the converted Renminbi may be used. The notice requires that the registered capital of a foreign-invested company settled in Renminbi converted from foreign currencies may only be used for purposes within the business scope approved by the applicable governmental authority and may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the registered capital of a foreign-invested company settled in Renminbi converted from foreign currencies. The use of such Renminbi capital may not be changed without SAFE’s approval, and may not in any case be used to repay Renminbi loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Notice 142 may result in severe penalties, such as heavy fines. As SAFE Notice 142 may significantly limit our ability to transfer the net proceeds from our financings to our PRC subsidiaries, the business expansions of our PRC subsidiaries may be adversely affected. In addition, we may not be able to convert the net proceeds from our financings into Renminbi to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies.

 

All employee participants in our existing stock option plans who are PRC citizens may be required to register with SAFE. We may also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional option plans for our directors and employees under PRC law.

 

On March 28, 2007, SAFE issued the Operating Procedures on Administration of Foreign Exchange regarding PRC Individuals’ Participating in Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Stock Option Plan of Overseas

 

Listed Companies, or the Stock Option Rule. It is not clear whether the Stock Option Rule covers any type of equity compensation plans or incentive plans which provide for the grant of ordinary share options or authorize the grant of restricted share awards. For any plans which are so covered and are adopted by an overseas listed company, the Stock Option Rule requires the employee participants who are PRC citizens to register with SAFE or its local branch within ten days of the beginning of each quarter. In addition, the Stock Option Rule also requires the employee participants who are PRC citizens to follow a series of requirements on making necessary applications for foreign exchange purchase quota, opening special bank account and filings with SAFE or its local branch before they exercise their stock option. The failure to comply with such provisions may subject us and the participants of our employee stock option plan who are PRC citizens to fines and legal sanctions and prevent us from further granting options under our employee stock option plan to our employees, which could adversely affect our business operations.

 

We face risks related to health epidemics and other outbreaks of contagious diseases, including avian influenza, or avian flu, swine influenza, or swine flu, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

 

Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of avian flu, SARS or another epidemic or outbreak. During 2007 and early 2008, there have been reports of outbreaks of a highly pathogenic avian flu, caused by the H5N1 virus, in certain regions of Asia and Europe. In 2005 and 2006, there were reports on the occurrences of avian flu in various parts of China, including a few confirmed human cases. In 2009 and 2010, there have been reports on the occurrences of swine flu, caused by the H1N1 virus, in Mexico, the United States, China and certain other countries and regions around the world. An outbreak of avian flu or swine flu in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, particularly in Asia. Additionally, any recurrence of SARS, a highly contagious form of atypical pneumonia, similar to the occurrence in 2003 which affected China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and certain other countries, would also have similar adverse effects. These outbreaks of contagious diseases, and other adverse public health developments in China, would have a material adverse effect on our business operations. These could include restrictions on our ability to travel or to ship our products outside of China, as well as cause temporary closure of our manufacturing facilities. Such closures or travel or shipment restrictions would severely disrupt our business operations and adversely affect our financial condition and results

of operations. We have not adopted any written preventive measures or contingency plans to combat any future outbreak of avian flu, swine flu, SARS or any other epidemic.

 

Risks Related to Our ADSs

 

The market price for our ADSs has been volatile.

 

The market price for our ADSs has been and will continue to be highly volatile. Since our ADSs became listed on the NYSE on June 8, 2007, the trading prices of our ADSs have ranged from US$2.50 to US$41.50 per ADS, and the last reported trading price on May 10, 2011 was US$11.36 per ADS. The price of our ADSs may continue to fluctuate in response to factors including the following:

 

 

In addition, the securities market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also have a material adverse effect on the market price of our ADSs.

 

Substantial future sales or perceived sales of our ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.

 

Sales of our ADSs in the public market in the future, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs to decline. As of the date of this annual report, we had 158,190,387 ordinary shares outstanding, including 103,901,895 ordinary shares represented by ADSs. All ADSs sold in our public offerings are freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. All of the remaining ordinary shares outstanding are, subject to the applicable requirements of Rule 144 under the Securities Act, available for sale. Under the terms of the note purchase agreement with Trustbridge, we have issued an aggregate amount of US$49.4 million of senior secured convertible notes due 2012 to Trustbridge or its affiliates. In June 2009, we issued 2,000,000 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of approximately US$8.7 million of the senior secured convertible notes. In the third quarter of 2010, we issued 6,000,688 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of US$26.2 million of the senior secured convertible notes. As of the date of this annual report, approximately US$14.6 million of the senior secured convertible notes were outstanding. We would be required to issue an aggregate of 3,339,503 ordinary shares to Trustbridge or its affiliates upon the conversion of our senior secured convertible notes, assuming all such notes are converted at the adjusted conversion rate of 22,933 ordinary shares per US$100,000 in principal amount of the senior secured convertible notes. In connection with a credit agreement between Yingli Capital and ADM Capital, we have issued 4,125,000 warrants to ADM Capital under the terms of a warrant agreement entered into in April 2009. Each warrant provides for the right to acquire one ordinary share at an initial strike price of US$5.64, which is based on the

20- trading day volume weighted average closing price per ADS on the New York Stock Exchange for the period prior to the issuance of the warrant, subject to customary anti-dilution and similar adjustments. In June 2009, we and ADM Capital revised the warrant agreement and modified the terms so that (i) the initial strike price decreased from US$5.64 per share to US$5.06 per share, (ii) upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders, we may, at its sole discretion, elect to settle the put price in (i) cash, (ii) shares or (iii) a combination of cash and shares and (iii) the number of ordinary shares we are obligated to issue upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders was capped. We may at our discretion settle the warrants in cash, ordinary shares or a mix of cash and ordinary shares. In May 2010, 498,612 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In November 2010, 511,599 ordinary shares in the form of ADS were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In May 2011, 1,444,060 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 2,475,000 warrants. As a result, nil warrants remain outstanding as of the date of this annual report. All ordinary shares issued in connection with conversion of our senior secured convertible notes or the settlement in shares of any warrants granted to ADM Capital will be available for sale promptly after issuance, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and rules.

 

Holders of ADSs have fewer rights than shareholders and must act through the depositary to exercise those rights.

 

Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights of our shareholders and may only exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying ordinary shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. As a holder of ADSs, you will not be treated as one of our shareholders and you will not have shareholder rights. Instead, the depositary will be treated as the holder of the shares underlying your ADSs. However, you may exercise some shareholders’ rights through the depositary, and you will have the right to withdraw the shares underlying your ADSs from the deposit facility.

 

Under our current articles of association, the minimum notice period required to convene a general meeting will be ten days. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit you to withdraw your ordinary shares to allow you to cast your vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send voting instructions to you or carry out your voting instructions in a timely manner. We plan to make all reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to you in a timely manner, but we cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote your ADSs. Furthermore, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and you may lack recourse if your ADSs are not voted as you requested. In addition, in your capacity as an ADS holder, you will not be able to call a shareholder meeting.

 

The depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not vote at shareholders’ meetings, except in limited circumstances, which could adversely affect your interests.

 

Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, the depositary will give us a discretionary proxy to vote our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders’ meetings if you do not vote, unless:

 

 

The effect of this discretionary proxy is that you cannot prevent our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, absent the situations described above, and it may make it more difficult for shareholders to influence our management. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.

 

You may not receive distributions on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to you.

 

The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian for our ADSs receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of our ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, it would be unlawful to make a distribution to a holder of ADSs if it consists of securities that require registration under the Securities Act but that are not properly registered or distributed pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration. The depositary is not responsible for making a distribution available to any holders of ADSs if any government approval or registration required for such distribution cannot be obtained after reasonable efforts are made by the depositary. We have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of our ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of our ADSs. This means that you may not receive the distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may have a material and adverse effect on the value of your ADSs.

 

You may be subject to limitations on transfers of your ADSs.

 

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deem it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

 

As a holder of our ADSs, your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings and you may not receive cash dividends if it is impractical to make them available to you.

 

We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to you in the United States unless we register the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Also, under the deposit agreement, the depositary bank will not make rights available to you unless the distribution to ADS holders of both the rights and any related securities are either registered under the Securities Act, or exempted from registration under the Securities Act with respect to all holders of ADSs. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective. Moreover, we may not be able to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, as a holder of our ADSs, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.

 

In addition, the depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property and you will not receive such distribution.

We are a Cayman Islands company and, because judicial precedent regarding the rights of shareholders is more limited under Cayman Islands law than that under U.S. law, you may have less protection for your shareholder rights than you would under U.S. law.

 

Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, the Cayman Islands Companies Law and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as that from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands have a less developed body of securities laws than the United States. In addition, some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands.

 

As a result of all of the above, shareholders of a Cayman Islands company may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as shareholders of a company incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States. For example, contrary to the general practice in most corporations incorporated in the United States, Cayman Islands law does not require that shareholders approve sales of all or substantially all of a company’s assets. The limitations described above will also apply to the depositary who is treated as the holder of the shares underlying your ADSs.

 

You may have difficulty enforcing judgments obtained against us.

 

We are a Cayman Islands company and substantially all of our assets are located outside of the United States. Substantially all of our current operations are conducted in the PRC. In addition, most of our directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States and a substantial majority of the assets of these persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons. It may also be difficult for you to enforce judgments obtained in U.S. courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us and our officers and directors, most of whom are not residents in the United States and the substantial majority of whose assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or the PRC would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts against us or such persons predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state. In addition, it is uncertain whether such Cayman Islands or PRC courts would be competent to hear original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or the PRC against us or such persons predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state.

 

 

 

Our predecessor and one of our operating subsidiaries, Tianwei Yingli, was established as a PRC limited liability company in August 1998. Through a series of equity transfers among holders of Tianwei Yingli’s equity interests and additional equity contributions into Tianwei Yingli from 1998 to 2006, Yingli Group, a PRC company controlled by Mr. Liansheng Miao, and Tianwei Baobian, a PRC listed company, became the only two holders of equity interests in Tianwei Yingli as of August 9, 2006 and held 51% and 49% equity interest in Tianwei Yingli, respectively.

 

Yingli Green Energy was incorporated on August 7, 2006 in the Cayman Islands as part of a restructuring of the equity interest in Tianwei Yingli to facilitate investments by foreign financial investors in Tianwei Yingli and the listing of our shares on an overseas stock market to achieve such investors’ investment goal and exit and liquidity strategies. On August 25, 2006, Yingli Green Energy entered into a Sino-foreign equity joint venture company contract with Tianwei Baobian under which, among others, we granted to Tianwei Baobian a

right to subscribe for newly issued ordinary shares of us in exchange for all but not part of Tianwei Baobian’s equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. Tianwei Baobian may exercise this subscription right only after certain conditions (as described below) are satisfied. On September 5, 2006, Yingli Group transferred all of its 51% equity interest in Tianwei Yingli to us in a transaction between entities under common control. As a result of such transfer, Tianwei Yingli became our subsidiary. For financial statements reporting purposes, Tianwei Yingli is deemed to be our predecessor. Through a series of additional equity contributions into Tianwei Yingli, we have increased our equity interest in Tianwei Yingli to 74.01%.

 

In addition to Tianwei Yingli, we have also established or acquired subsidiaries in strategic locations in the PRC, including Tibet, Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Guangzhou, Hainan, Suzhou, Shangdong and Kunming, etc. to manufacture, assemble or sell PV modules and systems and ancillary materials.

 

In August 2007, we established Yingli Green Energy (International) Holding Company Limited, or Yingli International, a British Virgin Islands company limited by shares, as our wholly-owned subsidiary and the intermediate holding company primarily for expanding our international and domestic presence. Under Yingli International, we have established:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In January 2009, we completed the acquisition of Cyber Power Group Limited, or Cyber Power, which, through its principal operating subsidiary in China, Fine Silicon Co., Ltd., has started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons of polysilicon per year by the end of 2011.

Our principal executive offices are located at No. 3055 Middle Fuxing Road, Baoding, Hebei Province, People’s Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is (86 312) 8929-700 and our fax number is (86 312) 8929-800. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Law Debenture Corporate Services Inc., located at 400 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at Cricket Square, Hutchins Drive, P.O. Box 2681, Grand Cayman, KY1-1111, Cayman Islands.

 

Investor inquiries should be directed to us at the address and telephone number of our principal executive offices set forth above. Our website is www.yinglisolar.com. The information contained on our website is not part of this annual report.

 

Our Initial Public Offering

 

On June 13, 2007, we completed our initial public offering, in which we offered and sold 26,550,000 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs, raising US$274.5 million in proceeds before expenses to us, and Yingli Power sold 2,450,000 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs. Upon the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional ADSs, certain of our Series A and Series B shareholders sold an aggregate of 500,000 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs.

 

Our Convertible Senior Notes Offering and Secondary Offering

 

In December 2007, we completed our convertible senior notes offering and secondary offering, in which we offered and sold an aggregate principal amount of US$172.5 million zero coupon convertible senior notes due 2012 and raised an aggregate of US$168.2 million in proceeds, before expenses, and several of our shareholders sold an aggregate of 6,440,000 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs. As of December 31, 2010, most of the convertible senior notes due 2012 have been repaid while principal amount of US$1.2 million is still outstanding.

 

Our Guaranteed Senior Secured Convertible Notes

 

In January 2009, we entered into a note purchase agreement with Trustbridge, under the terms of which we have issued an aggregate amount of US$49.4 million of senior secured convertible notes due 2012 to Trustbridge or its affiliate. In June 2009, we issued 2,000,000 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of US$8.7 million of the senior secured convertible notes. In the third quarter of 2010, we issued 6,000,688 ordinary shares to Trustbridge as a result of the conversion of US$26.2 million of the senior secured convertible notes. Based on the conversion rate of 22,933 ordinary shares per US$100,000 in principal amount of the Convertible Notes, we would be required to issue an aggregate of 3,339,503 ordinary shares upon the conversion of the remaining outstanding principal amount of US$14.6 million of the Convertible Notes in the future. The relevant non-cash accounting charge will be amortized over the holding period of the remaining Convertible Notes, or expensed upon their conversion.

 

ADM Capital Warrants

 

In January 2009, Yingli China entered into a credit agreement with ADM Capital for a three-year loan facility of up to US$80.0 million for Yingli China’s production capacity expansion and general corporate uses. In April 2009, Yingli China drew down US$50.0 million of the loan facility and we entered into a warrant agreement whereby we issued to ADM Capital 4,125,000 warrants. Each warrant provides for the right to acquire one ordinary share at an initial strike price of US$5.64, which is based on the 20-trading day volume weighted average closing price per ADS on the New York Stock Exchange for the period prior to the issuance of the warrant, subject to customary anti-dilution and similar adjustments. In June 2009, we and ADM Capital revised the warrant agreement and modified the terms so that (i) the initial strike price decreased from US$5.64 per share to US$5.06 per share, (ii) upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders, we may, at our sole discretion, elect to settle the put price in (a) cash, (b) shares or (c) a combination of cash and shares and (iii) the number of ordinary shares we are obligated to issue upon the exercise of the put option by the warrant holders was capped. In May 2010, 498,612 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In November 2010, 511,599 ordinary shares in the form of

ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 825,000 warrants. In May 2011, 1,444,060 ordinary shares in the form of ADSs were issued to ADM Capital in connection with its exercise of 2,475,000 warrants. As a result, nil warrants remain outstanding as of the date of this annual report. See “Item 5.F. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations.”

 

Follow-on Offering

 

In June 2009, we completed a follow-on public offering, in which we offered and sold an aggregate of 18,390,000 ordinary shares in the form of ADS, raising a total of US$227.3 million in net proceeds, and Yingli Power sold 3,000,000 ordinary shares of ADSs.

 

Medium-Term Notes Offering

 

On October 13, 2010, one of our principal operating subsidiaries, Tianwei Yingli, registered its plan to issue up to 2.4 billion RMB-denominated unsecured five-year medium-term notes, or the Registered Issue, with the PRC National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, or NAFMII. Under the Registered Issue, Tianwei Yingli successfully completed the issuance of RMB 1.0 billion (US$151.5 million) unsecured medium-term notes on October 13, 2010, or the “First Tranche Issue. The Registered Issue allows Tianwei Yingli to issue RMB-denominated unsecured five-year medium-term notes in two tranches on the PRC inter-bank debenture market. The First Tranche Issue was successfully completed on October 13, 2010 and will mature on October 13, 2015. Tianwei Yingli has an option to call the notes at the end of the third year from issuance. The First Tranche Issue bears a fixed annual interest rate of 4.3% in the first three years, which will increase to 5.7% in the remaining two years if Tianwei Yingli chooses not to call the notes on October 13, 2013. The second tranche with a principle amount of RMB 1.4 billion (US$212.1 million), or the Second Tranche Issue, was issued on May 10, 2011 and will mature on May 12, 2016. The Second Tranche Issue bears a fixed annual interest rate of 6.15%.

 

Joint Venture Contract

 

Tianwei Baobian was established under the PRC law in September 1999 and its common shares have been listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since January 2001. The principal business of Tianwei Baobian is the manufacture of large electricity transformers. The controlling shareholder of Tianwei Baobian is Baoding Tianwei Group Co., Ltd., or Tianwei Group, a wholly state-owned limited liability company established in the PRC in January 1991. The controlling person of Tianwei Group is China South. Tianwei Baobian became a shareholder of Tianwei Yingli in April 2002.

 

We entered into a joint venture contract with Tianwei Baobian on August 25, 2006 and amended the joint venture contract on October 10, 2006, November 13, 2006, December 18, 2006 and September 28, 2007, respectively. The joint venture contract is governed by PRC law and sets forth the respective rights and obligations of us and Tianwei Baobian relating to Tianwei Yingli. The major provisions of this joint venture contract include the following:

 

Tianwei Yingli’s Management Structure

 

Board of Directors

 

The board of directors of Tianwei Yingli, or the board, is its highest authority and has the power to decide all matters important to Tianwei Yingli.

 

The board consists of nine directors, six of whom are appointed by us and three of whom are appointed by Tianwei Baobian. Each director is appointed for a term of three years and may serve consecutive terms if re-appointed by the party which originally appointed such director. Each director may be removed by its appointing party, at any time, with or without cause and may be replaced by a nominee appointed by such party before the expiration of such director’s term of office.

 

The chairperson of the board is the legal representative of Tianwei Yingli. The chairperson has the right to vote as any other director and does not have a casting vote. Tianwei Baobian is entitled to appoint a

director to serve as the chairperson of the board and we are entitled to appoint a director to serve as the vice chairperson of the board.

 

A unanimous approval of all directors present in person or by proxy at the meeting of the board or, in the event of a written resolution, a unanimous approval of all directors, is required for resolutions involving the following matters:

 

 

Resolutions of the board involving any other matters may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of all directors present in person or by proxy at a meeting of the board.

 

The board is required to meet at least once each quarter. In addition to the regular meetings, the board may hold interim meetings. Each director has one vote at a meeting of the board. Board meetings are convened and presided over by the chairperson or, in his or her absence, by the vice chairperson or, in the absence of the vice chairperson, by a director elected by the majority of the directors. The board may adopt written resolutions in lieu of a board meeting, as long as the resolutions to be adopted are delivered to all directors and affirmatively signed and adopted by each director. The board members are required to act in accordance with board resolutions and may not do anything to jeopardize the interests of Tianwei Yingli.

 

A quorum for a meeting of the board is two thirds of the board members present, in person (including through telephone or video conference) or by proxy. If a meeting has been duly called and a quorum in person or by proxy is not present, no resolutions made at the meeting will be valid, and the director presiding over this meeting is required to postpone the meeting for no more than seven working days and send written notice of postponement to all directors. Any director who fails to attend the postponed meeting in person or by proxy will be deemed to be present at the meeting and be counted in the quorum, but such director will be deemed to have waived his or her voting rights.

 

Supervisors

 

Tianwei Yingli is required to have two supervisors. Tianwei Baobian and we each appoint one supervisor. Each supervisor is appointed for a term of three years and may serve consecutive terms if re-appointed by the party which originally appointed such supervisor. The supervisors may attend board meetings as non-voting members and make inquiries and suggestions as to matters submitted to board meetings for resolution. The major duties and powers of the supervisors are as follows:

 

 

Senior Management

 

Tianwei Yingli is required to have one chief executive officer and one chief financial officer. We nominate the chief executive officer for appointment by the board. The chief executive officer serves a term of three years and may serve consecutive terms if re-nominated by us and re-appointed by the board. The chief

executive officer has overall responsibilities for the daily operation and management of Tianwei Yingli and reports directly to the board. The chief executive officer nominates the chief financial officer for appointment by the board. The chief financial officer is responsible for financial matters of Tianwei Yingli and reports to the chief executive officer.

 

Subscription Right

 

Under the joint venture contract, we granted to Tianwei Baobian a right to subscribe for ordinary shares newly issued by us in exchange for all but not part of Tianwei Baobian’s equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. Tianwei Baobian may exercise the subscription right if, and only if, the following conditions are satisfied:

 

 

Subject to applicable laws in the PRC, the Cayman Islands, any jurisdiction in which our ordinary shares are listed and any jurisdiction in which a qualified securities exchange, including the NYSE, is located and further subject to the listing rules of such exchange, Tianwei Baobian may exercise the subscription right by sending a written notice to us within one month following the first date on which all conditions listed above are satisfied, accompanied by copies of related approvals and opinion of counsel.

 

Prior to exercising its subscription right, Tianwei Baobian is required to retain an asset valuation firm reasonably acceptable to us to obtain a valuation of Tianwei Baobian’s equity interest in Tianwei Yingli in accordance with internationally accepted valuation methods and relevant PRC laws and regulations. The valuation report will need to be acknowledged by both Tianwei Baobian and us. Under relevant PRC laws and regulations, the value of Tianwei Baobian’s equity interest in Tianwei Yingli agreed by Tianwei Baobian and us for the purpose of Tianwei Baobian’s exercise of the subscription right shall not be lower than 90% of the value of such equity interest as indicated in the valuation report.

 

The number of our new ordinary shares that we are obligated to issue to Tianwei Baobian upon its exercise of the subscription right will be calculated according to the following formula:

 

 

 

 

In addition, Tianwei Baobian may request us to make best efforts to purchase from Tianwei Baobian all but not part of its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli. Upon such request by Tianwei Baobian, we will undertake to use our best efforts to assist Tianwei Baobian in completing the transfer of such equity interest held by Tianwei Baobian. The manner and the price at which Tianwei Baobian sells its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli will be decided by mutual agreement between Tianwei Baobian and us based on the fair market value of its and our equity interest in Tianwei Yingli, respectively, and in accordance with relevant PRC laws and regulations.

Tianwei Yingli’s Registered Capital

 

Tianwei Yingli currently has a registered capital of RMB 3,375.2 million. We currently hold 74.01% of Tianwei Yingli’s equity interest, and Tianwei Baobian currently holds the remaining 25.99%. The registered capital of a company refers to the total amount of the capital subscribed by the equity interest holders of such company, as registered with relevant authorities. A shareholder of a company is entitled to the rights to and interests in such company in proportion to the fully paid amount of the registered capital of such company for which such shareholder subscribes or as otherwise agreed among the shareholders of such company. Such rights and interests include the rights to nominate directors to the board and receive dividends in proportion to the fully paid amount of the registered capital subscribed by such equity interest holders or as otherwise agreed among such equity interest holders. Under the PRC law, the rights and interests of a shareholder to a limited liability company are generally referred to as “equity interest.”

 

Increase or Reduction of Tianwei Yingli’s Registered Capital

 

Approval by the Board and the Relevant PRC Authority

 

Any increase or reduction of Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital is subject to unanimous approval of all directors present in person or by proxy at a meeting of the board or, in the event of a written resolution, the unanimous approval of all directors, as well as approval of the relevant PRC authority.

 

Preemptive Right

 

If the board resolves to increase Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital, both Tianwei Baobian and we have the preemptive right to make additional contributions to the registered capital in proportion to its and our respective equity interests in Tianwei Yingli as of the date of the board’s resolution. If Tianwei Baobian and we choose to make such additional contributions, we are obligated to pay in full our respective additional contributions within 30 days after the relevant PRC authority approves the increase of Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital.

 

If a party notifies the board in writing of its decision not to make all or part of the additional contribution that it is entitled to make, or fails to pay in full its additional contribution within 30 days after the approval by the relevant PRC authority (such party being the non-contributing party), the other party has the right, but not the obligation, to make an additional contribution to the extent that the first party fails or elects not to contribute (such other party, if it so contributes, being the contributing party). In this event, the board will retain an independent asset valuation firm to obtain a valuation of Tianwei Yingli in accordance with internationally accepted valuation methods and relevant PRC laws and regulations. If the non-contributing party does not make any additional contribution to Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital while the contributing party does, the contributing party’s shareholding percentage in Tianwei Yingli immediately after its contribution will be calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

Our Additional Contribution to Tianwei Yingli’s Registered Capital with Proceeds from our Public Offering or Private Placements

 

Notwithstanding the above, if we intend to use proceeds from our public offering or any private placement transaction to make additional contributions to Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital, Tianwei Baobian must cause all directors appointed by Tianwei Baobian to vote in favor of an increase of Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital, and to take all actions necessary to obtain the approval of the relevant PRC authority. In such event, the board shall retain an independent asset valuation firm to obtain a valuation of Tianwei Yingli in accordance with internationally accepted valuation methods and relevant PRC laws and regulations. The percentage of our equity interest in Tianwei Yingli immediately after we make an additional contribution to Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital with proceeds of our public offering or any private placement transaction will be calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

Transfer of Equity Interests in Tianwei Yingli

 

All or part of the equity interests in Tianwei Yingli held by Tianwei Baobian and us may be transferred to third parties subject to the provisions described below.

 

Right of First Refusal

 

The party intending to transfer all or any part of its equity interest in Tianwei Yingli (such party being the transferring party) is required to send a written notice, or the offer notice, to the other party (such party being the non-transferring party) and the board of Tianwei Yingli, notifying them of the transferring party’s intent to transfer such equity interest, or the offered interest, the terms and conditions of the proposed transfer and the identity of the proposed third-party transferee. The non- transferring party may exercise its right of first refusal by sending a written notice, or the acceptance notice, to the transferring party within 30 days after receipt of the offer notice, notifying the transferring party of the non-transferring party’s intent to acquire all, but not less than all, of the offered interest.

 

The non-transferring party will be deemed to have consented to the proposed transfer if the transferring party has not received an acceptance notice within 30 days after the non-transferring party’s receipt of the offer notice. In such an event, the transferring party may transfer the offered interest to the proposed third-party transferee within 60 days after expiration of the 30-day period as provided above and on terms no more favorable than specified in the offer notice, and the non-transferring party is obligated to sign a statement indicating its consent and waiver of its right of first refusal.

 

Notwithstanding the right of first refusal as described above, after completion of our initial public offering and listing of our ADSs on the NYSE, all or any part of the interest in Tianwei Yingli held by Tianwei Baobian or us may be transferred to its or our respective affiliates, and the other party is obligated to consent to such transfer.

Approval by the Board and the Relevant PRC Authority

 

Any transfer of an equity interest in Tianwei Yingli is subject to the unanimous approval of all directors present in person or by proxy at a meeting of the board or, in the event of a written resolution, the unanimous approval of all directors. Such transfer is also subject to the approval of relevant PRC authorities.

 

In the case of any transfer of an equity interest in Tianwei Yingli to a third party with a deemed consent of the non-transferring party or any affiliate transfer following the completion of our initial public offering and listing of our ADSs on the NYSE, each as described above, the non-transferring party is obligated to (i) cause each director appointed by it to consent to such transfer and approve related amendments to the articles of association of Tianwei Yingli at a board meeting and (ii) use its best efforts to obtain the approval of relevant PRC authorities.

 

No Transfer to Tianwei Yingli’s Competitors

 

Under an amendment to the joint venture contract dated October 10, 2006, Tianwei Baobian and we may not transfer any of its or our equity interest, as applicable, in Tianwei Yingli to any third party that is engaged in a competing business with Tianwei Yingli.

 

Encumbrance

 

Neither Tianwei Baobian nor we may mortgage, pledge, charge or otherwise encumber all or any part of its or our respective equity interests, as applicable, in Tianwei Yingli without the prior written consent of the other party or the approval of relevant PRC authorities.

 

Profit Distribution

 

The maximum amount of dividend payable by Tianwei Yingli to its equity interest holders is calculated based on its retained earnings as calculated under PRC accounting regulations, and prior to the payment of dividends, Tianwei Yingli is required to pay income taxes according to PRC laws and make allocations of retained earnings to the reserve fund, enterprise development fund and employee bonus and bonus and welfare fund each at a percentage decided by the board each fiscal year. Any dividends paid by Tianwei Yingli are required to be distributed to Tianwei Baobian and us in proportion to its and our respective equity interests in Tianwei Yingli. Tianwei Yingli may not distribute any profit to its equity interest holders until all losses incurred in previous fiscal years are fully recovered. Undistributed profits accumulated in previous fiscal years may be distributed together with profits from the current fiscal year.

 

Unilateral Termination of the Joint Venture Contract

 

Either Tianwei Baobian or we may unilaterally terminate the joint venture contract if:

 

 

Under the joint venture contract, force majeure is defined as any event which (i) is beyond the control of the parties thereto, (ii) is not foreseeable, or if foreseeable, unavoidable and (iii) prevents either party from performing all or a material part of its respective obligations.

 

Under the Company Law and other relevant PRC laws and regulations, the business license of a company may be terminated, cancelled or revoked by the relevant registration authority if such company:

 

 

 

Under relevant PRC laws and regulations, Tianwei Yingli’s board of directors is required to establish a liquidation committee to carry out the liquidation of Tianwei Yingli upon the expiration or termination of the joint venture contract. The liquidation committee must conduct a thorough examination of Tianwei Yingli’s assets and liabilities. During the course of the liquidation proceedings, Tianwei Yingli may continue its existence, but may not conduct any business activities unrelated to the liquidation process. The proceeds from the liquidation of Tianwei Yingli’s assets must be used first to settle any and all of its outstanding debts, salaries, labor insurance and liquidation-related fees and taxes, and the balance of the proceeds must be distributed to Tianwei Yingli’s shareholders in proportion to their respective contributions to Tianwei Yingli’s registered capital. Upon completion of the liquidation, the liquidation committee must submit a liquidation report to relevant PRC authorities to effect deregistration and make a public announcement of the termination of the joint venture contract.

 

Dispute Resolution

 

All disputes arising from or in connection with the existence, interpretation, validity, termination or performance of the joint venture contract are required to be submitted to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center for final and binding arbitration in accordance with the arbitration rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law then prevailing. Before an arbitration proceeding may be commenced, (1) the party seeking arbitration must send a written notice to the other party requesting arbitration and describing the nature of the dispute and (2) within 90 days of such notice Tianwei Baobian and we must have engaged in efforts to resolve the dispute amicably, but such efforts have failed.

 

Governing Law

 

The execution, validity, interpretation and performance of the joint venture contract, as well as resolution of disputes under such contract, are governed by PRC law.

 

 

Overview

 

We are one of the leading vertically integrated photovoltaic, or PV, product manufacturers in the world. We design, manufacture and sell PV modules, and design, assemble, sell and install PV systems. With an overall annual manufacturing capacity of over 1,000 megawatts for each of crystalline polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules as of the date of this annual report, we believe we are currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual manufacturing capacity. With our in-house polysilicon manufacturing capacity, which started trial production in late 2009, our current products and services substantially cover the entire PV industry value chain, ranging from the manufacture of polysilicon, crystalline polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to the manufacture of PV systems and the installation of PV systems. We believe we are one of the largest PV companies in the world to have adopted a vertically integrated business model. Our end-products include PV modules and PV systems in different sizes

and power outputs. We sell PV modules under our own brand names, Yingli and Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan.

 

In 2002, we began producing PV modules with an initial annual manufacturing capacity of three megawatts and have significantly expanded production capacities of our PV products in the past to the current level. We currently plan to expand our overall annual manufacturing capacity of each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 1,700 megawatts by the end of 2011 by building 600 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in Baoding, Hebei Province and an additional 100 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in Haikou, Hainan Province. In addition, through Fine Silicon, our in-house polysilicon production subsidiary, we expect to have a polysilicon production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011.

 

Our Products and Services

 

Our products and services include the manufacture of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells, PV modules and integrated PV systems, which encompass substantially the entire PV industry value chain, with the manufacture of polysilicon feedstock being the only significant exception. In January 2009, we acquired Cyber Power, a development stage enterprise designed to produce polysilicon. Cyber Power, through its principal operating subsidiary, Fine Silicon, has started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. However, we do not expect that our in-house polysilicon production capacity will meet our entire polysilicon needs in the near future.

 

Polysilicon

 

Our polysilicon production process starts with the production of sodium aluminum hydrogen, or SAH, and silicon tetrafluoride, or STF. We produce SAH with sodium, aluminum and hydrogen through the SAH reactor. STF is produced from silica, sulfuric acid and sodium aluminum tetrafluoride, or SAF, through the STF reactor. SAH and STF are then fed into the silane reactor to produce silane. After purification, we transfer silane into the chemical vapor disposition, or CVD, reactor to produce polysilicon.

 

Polysilicon Ingots and Blocks

 

A polysilicon ingot is formed by melting, purifying and solidifying polysilicon feedstock into a brick-shaped ingot. Majority of our ingots weigh up to 400 kilograms and reach the size of 840 millimeters x 840 millimeters x 250 millimeters. We began producing 420 kilogram multicrystalline polysilicon ingots with the size of 840 millimeters x 840 millimeters x 262 millimeters in December 2009. The polysilicon ingots are then cut into blocks. Our polysilicon blocks are generally available in the size of 156 millimeters x 156 millimeters x 250 millimeters. We use our polysilicon blocks to produce polysilicon wafers.

 

Polysilicon Wafers

 

The polysilicon blocks are then sliced into wafers with wire saws. Thinner wafers enable a more efficient use of polysilicon, and thus lower the cost per watt of power produced. The thickness of our wafers was 180 microns as of December 31, 2010. The diameter of our wires was 120 microns as of December 31, 2010. Our wafers are generally available in the size of 156 millimeters x 156 millimeters. At times historically when we had produced an excess amount of wafers as a result of the disparity in our wafer manufacturing capacity and the PV cell capacity, we provided the excess wafers to third-party toll manufacturers which processed wafers into PV cells and return the PV cells to us for a processing fee under toll manufacturing arrangements. We terminated our toll manufacturing arrangements with third-party toll manufacturers and have not made any such tolling manufacturing arrangements in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, we resumed our toll manufacturing arrangements with third-party toll manufacturers, which accounted for a very small percentage of our total production volume.

PV Cells

 

A PV cell is a device made from a polysilicon wafer that converts sunlight into electricity by a process known as the photovoltaic effect. The conversion efficiency of a PV cell is the ratio of electrical energy produced by the cell to the energy from sunlight that reaches the cell. The conversion efficiency of PV cells is determined to a large extent by the quality of wafers used to produce the PV cells, which is, in turn, determined by the mix of different types of polysilicon raw materials used in the ingot casting process. As a substantially vertically integrated PV product manufacturer, we have sought to optimize the ratio of expensive high-purity polysilicon to cheaper polysilicon scraps used in our feedstock mix so as to minimize production cost while we continue to improve our cell conversion efficiency rates. The annual average conversion efficiency for our multicrystalline cells was 15.6%, 16.2% and 16.5% in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.

 

In addition, we have commercialized 300 megawatts of monocrystalline production capacity for each of monocrystalline ingots and wafers, cells and modules in Baoding, Hebei Province. The new production lines are designed to produce next-generation high efficiency monocrystalline PV cells based on the technology developed through Project PANDA, a collaboration project among us, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, a leading solar research center in Europe, and Tempress Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amtech Systems, Inc., a global supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of PV cells. On the 300 megawatts PANDA commercial lines, we achieved an average cell conversion efficiency rate of 18.5% in 2010, and reached a record cell conversion efficiency rate of 19.89% on trail production lines in the first quarter of 2011.

 

We generally use all of our PV cells in the production of our PV modules. In 2010, as we were able to achieve a utilization rate of our PV module production capacity above 100% to meet strong market demand, we purchased a small amount of PV cells from third parties to meet the excess PV module production capacity. We anticipate that the utilization of our PV module production capacity will remain at a level above the utilization of our PV cell production capacity. As a result, we may continue to purchase PV cells from third parties from time to time in the future to meet market demand.

 

PV Modules

 

A PV module is an assembly of PV cells that are electrically interconnected, laminated and framed in a durable and weatherproof package. Currently, most of our PV modules are made with PV cells produced by us. Historically, we used toll manufacturing arrangements on a limited scale, and most of our PV modules produced by third-party PV cell manufacturers under such toll manufacturing arrangements used polysilicon wafers produced by us. As the result of a utilization rate of our PV module production capacity above 100%, which exceed the utilization rate of our PV cell production capacity, a small portion of our PV modules were made with PV cells provided by third-party suppliers. Our PV modules are made with a frame design that we believe enhances their ability to withstand strong wind and vibrations. A majority of PV modules produced by us have outputs ranging from 150 to 270 watts. The following table sets forth the major types of modules produced by us:

 

 

Integrated PV Systems

 

A PV system consists of one or more PV modules that are physically mounted and electrically interconnected with system components such as batteries and power electronics, to produce and store electricity. We produce PV systems and also design, assemble, sell and install stand-alone PV systems for lighting systems, mobile communication base stations and residential applications. In order to focus on our core PV products and their components, we no longer produce controllers, inverters and other components

used in our PV systems but instead source them from third-party manufacturers and sell them to our customers as part of our PV systems. We typically install these systems on-site for our customers. For our larger PV systems, we work with the customers on-site to design, install, test and oversee the system start-up. Installation, testing and initial start-up of a PV system generally takes up to four months.

 

Manufacturing

 

We started producing PV modules in 2002 and started producing polysilicon ingots and wafers in October 2003 and PV cells in March 2004. As of the date of this annual report, we have the capacity to produce over 1,000 megawatts each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules per year. We use our polysilicon wafers and PV cells as materials in the production of PV modules. Because our manufacturing capacity for polysilicon wafers had exceeded that for PV cells in the past, we had used toll manufacturing arrangements with third-party PV cell manufacturers to process the excess wafers into PV cells for us. We also purchased additional PV cells from third-party trading companies. As we have achieved the same level of manufacturing capacity for each of polysilicon wafers, PV cells and PV modules, we terminated our toll manufacturing arrangements with third-party toll manufacturers in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, we resumed our toll manufacturing arrangements with third-party toll manufacturers, which accounted for a very small percentage of our total production volume. In addition, as we have been able to achieve a utilization rate of our PV module production capacity above 100%, which exceed the utilization rate of our PV cell production capacity, we anticipate that we may continue to purchase PV cells from third parties from time to time in the future to meet the excess PV module production capacity resulted from such high utilization rate.

 

Manufacturing Process

 

Polysilicon.  Fine Silicon produces high-quality solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon through an energy-efficient and environmentally sound manufacturing process. Unlike traditional trichlorosilane (TCS)-based polysilicon technology, Fine Silicon’s approach eliminates the use of any chlorides or TCS and produces sulfate as the only by-product, which can be used as raw materials in the chemical industry, thereby saving power and minimizing the environmental impact.

 

Our polysilicon production process starts with the production of sodium aluminum hydrogen, or SAH, and silicon tetrafluoride, or STF. We produce SAH with sodium, aluminum and hydrogen through the SAH reactor. STF is produced from silica, sulfuric acid and sodium aluminum tetrafluoride, or SAF, through the STF reactor. SAH and STF are then fed into the silane reactor to produce silane. After purification, we transfer silane into the CVD reactor to produce polysilicon.

The following diagram illustrates our polysilicon production process:

 

 

Polysilicon Ingots.  The quality of polysilicon ingots determines, to a large extent, the quality of our final PV products. To produce polysilicon ingots, polysilicon is melted in a quartz crucible within a furnace. The melted polysilicon then undergoes a crystal growing process, gradually anneals and forms an ingot. To reduce the cost of polysilicon, we use a mix of high-purity polysilicon and lower-purity polysilicon, including polysilicon scraps such as the discarded tops and tails of ingots, pot scraps and broken or unused silicon wafers. Our employees undertake the labor-intensive process of sorting through the polysilicon feedstock to separate polysilicon that meets our specified standards for the production of ingots. The polysilicon feedstock used in the production of multicrystalline polysilicon ingots is not required to have the same level of purity as that used to produce monocrystalline silicon ingots. Nonetheless, impurities in polysilicon feedstock present a challenge to the production of polysilicon ingots because impurities are difficult to separate in the casting process. After years of research and development, we have developed a proprietary ingot casting technology that reduces casting time and enables the use of more lower-purity polysilicon, including polysilicon scraps, with minimal adverse effect on the quality of our PV modules.

 

Blocks and Wafers.  Polysilicon ingots are cut into polysilicon blocks, which are edge-ground to avoid breakage during the wafer-slicing process. Polysilicon blocks are then sliced into polysilicon wafers.

 

PV Cells.  The silicon wafers undergo an ultrasonic cleaning process to remove oil and surface particles, followed by a chemical cleaning process to remove the impurity and create a suede-like structure on the wafer surface, which reduces the PV cell’s reflection of sunlight and increases the PV cell’s absorption of solar energy. Through a diffusion process, we then introduce certain impurities into the silicon wafers and form an electrical field within the PV cell. We achieve the electrical isolation between the front and back surfaces of the silicon wafer by edge isolation, or removing a very thin layer of silicon around the edge. We then apply an anti-reflection coating to the front surface of the wafer to enhance its absorption of sunlight. We screen-print negative and positive metal contacts, or electrodes, on the front and back surfaces of the PV cell, respectively, with the front contact in a grid pattern to collect the electrical current. Silicon and metal electrodes are then connected through an electrode firing process in a conveyor belt furnace at a high temperature. Testing and sorting complete the manufacturing process for PV cells.

The diagram below illustrates the PV cell manufacturing process:

 

 

PV Modules.  PV modules are formed by interconnecting multiple PV cells into desired electrical configurations through welding. The interconnected cells are laid out and laminated in a vacuum. Through these processes, the PV modules are weather-sealed, and thus are able to withstand high levels of ultraviolet radiation, moisture, wind and sand. Assembled PV modules are packaged in a protective aluminum frame prior to testing.

 

The following diagram illustrates the PV module manufacturing process:

 

 

PV Systems.  PV system production involves the design, manufacturing, installation and testing of PV systems. We design PV systems according to our customers’ requirements. We integrate PV modules and other system components into PV systems by electronically interconnecting PV modules with system components such as inverters, storage batteries and electronic circuitry to produce, store and deliver electricity. For small PV systems such as portable electricity supply systems used for transmitter-receivers, we complete the integration and testing procedures in our facilities in Baoding before such systems are sold to the end-customers. For mid-sized PV systems such as PV lighting systems, we complete the integration process in Baoding, but install and test for our customers on-site. For large PV systems, such as on-grid solar power stations and stand-alone PV systems, we work with the customers on-site to design, install, test and oversee the system startup.

 

Manufacturing Capacity Expansion

 

In 2002, we began producing PV modules with an initial annual manufacturing capacity of three megawatts and have significantly expanded production capacities of our PV products in the past to the current level. We currently plan to expand our overall annual manufacturing capacity of each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 1,700 megawatts by the end of 2011 by building 600 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in Baoding, Hebei Province and an additional 100 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in Haikou, Hainan Province. In addition, through Fine Silicon, our in-house polysilicon manufacturing plant, we expect to build a production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011.

The following table sets forth our production capacities for ingot and wafers, PV cells and PV modules at the end of each period indicated.

 

 

Raw Materials

 

Raw materials required in our manufacturing process include aluminum, sodium, hydrogen, silica, sulfuric acid, polysilicon, polysilicon scraps crucibles, silicon carbides, cutting fluid, steel cutting wires, metallic pastes, laminate materials, tempered glass, aluminum frames, solder, batteries and other chemical agents and electronic components. We generally use vendors who have demonstrated quality control and reliability and maintain multiple supply sources for each of our key raw materials and other consumables so as to minimize any potential disruption of our operations from supply problems with any one vendor. We generally evaluate the quality and delivery performance of each vendor periodically and adjust quantity allocations accordingly. We maintain adequate supply of raw materials and other consumables based upon periodic estimates of our outstanding customer orders.

 

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, we purchased the substantial majority of our raw materials and other consumables (other than polysilicon) from approximately 10 to 15 overseas suppliers and the rest from Chinese suppliers. Where possible, we seek to procure raw materials and other consumables from suppliers with proven quality and cost advantages.

 

Polysilicon and polysilicon scraps are the most important raw materials used in our production process. Due to growing global demand for polysilicon, prices for polysilicon had increased substantially in the past few years until the fourth quarter in 2008. From the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, as the result of increased polysilicon manufacturing capacity and the decrease in the demand for polysilicon due to the recent global financial crisis, the price of polysilicon decreased significantly. Since the third quarter of 2010, the polysilicon price has rebounded due to the recovery of demand for PV products in main markets. Any significant increase of the price for polysilicon would materially, and adversely affect our profitability and results of operations. Our average purchase price of polysilicon per kilogram decreased by 28.9% in 2010 compared to 2009.

 

Historically, we have relied on spot market purchase to meet a significant portion of our polysilicon needs. In order to secure adequate and timely supply of high purity polysilicon and polysilicon scraps, we are actively seeking to further strengthen our relationships with our polysilicon suppliers and establish strategic relationships with them. We have entered into various purchase agreements and memorandums of understanding with local and foreign suppliers, including some of the world’s major polysilicon suppliers. Supplies under these purchase agreements started in early 2009. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to secure sufficient quantities of polysilicon to support the expansion of our manufacturing capacity as currently planned.

 

From 2006 to 2010, we entered into seven long-term supply contracts with Wacker Chemie AG, or Wacker, a German polysilicon supplier, for supplies of polysilicon from 2009 through 2013, from 2009 through 2017, from 2010 through 2018, from 2009 through 2011, from 2010 through 2017, from 2011 through 2013 and from 2011 through 2018, respectively. In addition, we entered into two supply agreements in February 2008 with OCI Company Ltd., or OCI, formerly known as DC Chemical, for supplies of polysilicon for 2008 and for the period from 2009 through 2013, respectively, and in May 2008, we entered into a third polysilicon supply agreement with OCI for an additional supply of polysilicon from April 2008 to December 2008. From 2009 to the date of this annual report, we entered into another two long-term supply contracts with OCI, for supplies of polysilicon from 2011 through 2015 and from 2012 through 2018, respectively. We also entered into a polysilicon supply contract with Daqo New Energy Corp., or Daqo, formerly known as

Sailing, for polysilicon to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the end of 2010. In August, 2010, we entered into another polysilicon supply agreement with Daqo for supplies of polysilicon from 2011 through 2012. In April 2011, we entered into a long-term polysilicon supply agreement with Hemlock Semiconductor Pte. Ltd., or Hemlock, for supplies of polysilicon from 2013 through 2020.

 

In January 2009, we acquired Cyber Power, which was then a development stage enterprise designed to produce polysilicon. Fine Silicon, the principal operating subsidiary of Cyber Power, started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. However, we do not expect that our in-house polysilicon production capacity will meet our entire polysilicon needs in the near future.

 

Quality Control

 

We employ quality assurance procedures at key stages of our manufacturing process to identify and solve quality problems. Our quality assurance procedures start with raw material quality assurance, which includes annual evaluation of our major raw material suppliers and inspection of all raw materials upon their arrival at our factory. We also have quality control procedures in place at all key stages of our wafer, PV cell and PV module production processes. In addition, all of our wafers, PV cells and PV modules are tested before they are used in the next manufacturing step or sent to our warehouse for sale. If a problem is detected, a failure analysis is performed to determine the cause. To ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of our quality assurance procedures, we provide ongoing training to our production line employees. Our senior management team is actively involved in establishing quality assurance policies and managing quality assurance performance on a continuous basis.

 

We have received many types of international certifications for our products and quality assurance programs, which we believe demonstrates our technological capabilities and foster customer confidence. The following table sets forth the major certifications we have received and major test standards our products have met as of the date of this annual report:

 

 

Markets and Customers

 

Our products are sold in various markets worldwide, including Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. The following table sets forth the revenues generated from our major markets as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated.

 

 

For a breakdown of our net revenue by geographic regions for 2008, 2009 and 2010, see Note 22 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. For the revenue contributions by our customers that individually accounted for greater than 10% of our net revenues for 2008, 2009 and 2010, see Note 2(c) to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

 

The products that we sell outside of China are primarily PV modules. These modules are sold primarily to installers, PV system integrators, property developers and other value-added resellers, who incorporate our PV modules into large on-grid integrated PV systems with batteries, inverters, mounting structures and wiring systems. In China, we have historically sold our PV modules primarily to government organizations, PV system integrators, telecommunications and broadcasting companies, solar lighting system manufacturers, traffic control equipment manufacturers and waterways inspection system installers for uses in various PV systems.

We sell our PV modules typically through supply contracts with a term of less than one year and are obligated to deliver PV modules according to pre-agreed prices and schedules.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

We currently sell our PV modules primarily to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators and PV system integrators. Our focus on specific types of customers depends largely on the demand in the specific markets. Distributors and wholesalers tend to be large volume purchasers. We also work with solar power plant developers and operators by supplying solar modules for select downstream projects. PV system integrators typically design and sell integrated systems that include our branded PV modules along with other system components. Some of the PV system integrators also resell our modules to other system integrators.

 

We also sell our integrated PV systems in China to end-users directly or to large contractors who use our PV systems in their electricity projects. We employ a total of approximately 200 marketing and sales personnel at our headquarters in Baoding and also in Tibet, Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shandong, Hainan and Kunming. We target our sales and marketing efforts at companies in selected industry sectors, including telecommunications, public utilities and transportation. We believe we are one of the leading suppliers of integrated PV systems to mobile communications companies in China based on the wattage of PV systems installed. We believe the adoption of China’s Renewable Energy Law and the PRC government’s commitment to develop renewable energy sources will contribute to rapid growth of the PV market in China. We plan to leverage our existing relationships with end-users to increase our sales in China, especially our sales of PV systems. As part of our effort to expand overseas, we have built a sales team of 48 representatives located in Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Singapore and the United States, and expect to further expand our overseas sales force.

 

In order to avoid brand confusion and build more direct relationships with our customers, we have actively promoted our brand name through participation in trade shows and exhibitions, advertisements on newspapers and trade magazines and various sponsorships. For example, to strengthen our leadership position in our existing markets and to establish our presence in emerging markets, we became an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup^tm in South Africa. Our sponsorship agreement for the 2010 FIFAWorld Cup^tm gives us global marketing rights, including certain ticket, perimeter-board advertising, and media rights as well as the right to showcase our solar products at the fan zones in the FIFAWorld Cup^tm stadiums. The agreement also gives us the right to place our company logo next to the FIFA World Cup^tm Official Emblem and advertise or promote our products and services. We also participated in FIFA’s “Football for Hope” efforts by contributing our expertise in renewable energy for the “20 Centers for 2010” and “Green Goal” programs. On January 22, 2011, we became an Official Premium Partner of FC Bayern München, or FCB, one of the most successful and popular football clubs in the world. Our sponsorship as an Official Premium Partner in the renewable energy business sector commences the second leg of season 2010/2011 and continues until the end of season 2013/2014. Under this sponsorship, we have a series of marketing rights, including ticketing and hospitality, advertising and media/public relations as well as the right to market and sell our solar products in the official FCB fan shops.

 

Customer Support and Services

 

We provide customer support and service in China through dedicated teams of technical service personnel located in Baoding, Tibet, Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shandong, Hainan and Kunming. Our customer support and service teams coordinate their activities with the marketing, technology, quality and manufacturing departments.

 

We provide customer support and service to overseas customers through our overseas subsidiaries and regional headquarters located in our major markets, such as Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Singapore and the United States. Currently, our PV modules sold to customers outside of China typically carry a five-year limited warranty for defects in materials and workmanship, although historically our PV modules were typically sold with a two-year limit warranty for such defects. In addition, our PV modules typically carry a

ten-year and twenty-five-year limited warranty against declines of initial power generation capacity by more than 10.0% and 20.0%, respectively. As a result, we bear the risk of extensive warranty claims long after we sell our products and recognize revenues. In connection with our PV system installation projects in China, we provide a one- to five-year warranty for our modules, storage batteries, controllers and inverters. Because our products have only been in use for a relatively short period of time, our assumptions regarding the durability and reliability of our products may not be accurate, and because our products have relatively long warranty periods, we cannot assure you that the amount of accrued warranty provided by us for our products will be adequate in light of the actual performance of our products. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — Unsatisfactory performance or defects in our products may cause us to incur warranty expenses, damage our reputation and cause our sales to decline.”

 

Intellectual Property

 

We have registered our trademarks “Yingli” and “Yingli Solar” in China. We have full rights to use “Yingli Solar” in a number of foreign jurisdictions where we sell or plan to sell our products, including all members of the European Union, the United States and Canada. As of the date of this annual report, we had a total of 60 issued patents in China and had made 70 patent applications. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, anti-unfair competition and trade secret laws, as well as nondisclosure agreements and other methods to protect our intellectual property rights. Other than the know-how available in the public domain, we have developed in-house unpatented technical know-how that we use to manufacture our products. Many elements of our manufacturing processes involve proprietary know-how, technology or data, either developed by us in-house or transferred to us by our equipment suppliers, which are not covered by patents or patent applications, including manufacturing technologies and processes and production line and equipment designs. We have taken security measures to protect these elements. Substantially all of our research and development personnel are parties to confidentiality, non-competition and proprietary information agreements with us. These agreements address intellectual property protection issues and require our employees to assign to us all of the inventions, designs and technologies that they develop during their terms of employment with us. We also take other precautions, such as internal document and network assurance and using a separate dedicated server for technical data. We have not had any material intellectual property claims since our inception. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factor — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — Our limited intellectual property protection inside and outside of China may undermine our competitive position and subject us to intellectual property disputes with third parties, both of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.”

 

Competition

 

The PV market is intensely competitive and rapidly evolving. The number of PV product manufacturers had rapidly increased due to the growth of actual and forecasted demand for PV products and the relatively low barriers to entry. The weakened demand for PV modules due to weakened macroeconomic conditions and tightened credit for PV project financing, combined with the increased supply of PV modules due to production capacity expansion by PV module manufacturers worldwide in recent years, has caused the price of PV modules to decline beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. We expect that the prices of PV products, including PV modules, may continue to decline over time due to increased supply of PV products, reduced manufacturing costs from economies of scale, advancement of manufacturing technologies and cyclical downturns in the price of polysilicon. If we fail to attract and retain customers in our target markets for our current and future core products, namely PV modules and PV systems, we will be unable to increase our revenues and market share.

 

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, a significant portion of our revenues have been derived from overseas markets, including Germany, the United States, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan, and we expect these trends to continue. In these markets, we compete with both local and international producers of solar products, including the solar energy divisions of large conglomerates such as BP Solar and Sharp Corporation, PV module manufacturers such as SunPower Corporation, thin film solar module manufacturers such as First Solar, Inc., and integrated PV product

manufacturers such as SolarWorld AG, Renewable Energy Corporation, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., and Trina Solar Limited.

 

We may also face competition from new entrants to the PV market, including those that offer more advanced technological solutions or that have greater financial resources, such as semiconductor manufacturers, several of which have announced their intention to start production of PV cells and PV modules. A significant number of our competitors are developing or currently producing products based on PV technologies which may believe to be more advanced, including amorphous silicon, string ribbon and nano technologies, which eventually offer cost advantages over the crystalline polysilicon technologies currently used by us. A widespread adoption of any of these technologies could result in a rapid decline in demand for our products and a resulting decrease in our revenues if we fail to adopt such technologies. In addition, like us, some of our competitors have become, or are becoming, vertically integrated in the PV industry value chain, from silicon ingot manufacturing to PV system sales and installation. This could further erode our competitive advantage as a vertically integrated PV product manufacturer. In addition, our competitors may also enter into the polysilicon manufacturing business, which may provide them with cost advantages. Furthermore, the entire PV industry also faces competition from conventional energy and non-solar renewable energy providers.

 

With respect to PV modules, we compete primarily in terms of price, reliability of delivery, consistency in the average wattage of our PV modules, durability, appearance and the quality of after-sale services. We believe our highly bankable and cost-effective products, strong brand name, well-established reputation and integrated service model make our PV modules competitive in overseas markets. We sell small commercial, personal and home-use PV systems primarily in China where we have competitive advantages over our overseas competitors because of our closer proximity to customers in China and better understanding of their needs. We also have domestic competitors in China. With respect to large integrated PV system projects, we compete primarily in terms of price, design and construction experience, aesthetics and conversion efficiency. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — We face intense competition in the PV modules and PV system markets and our PV products compete with different solar energy systems as well as other renewable energy sources in the alternative energy market. If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with existing or new competitors, our business prospects and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.”

 

Environmental Matters

 

Our manufacturing processes generate noise, waste water, gaseous waste and other industrial waste. We have installed various types of anti-pollution equipment in our facilities to reduce, treat, and where feasible, recycle the wastes generated in our manufacturing process. The most significant environmental contaminant we generate is waste water. We have built special facilities to filter and treat waste water generated in our production process and recycle the water back into our production process. The other major environmental contaminant we generate is gaseous waste. We treat such gas in our special facilities to reduce the contaminant level to below the applicable environmental protection standard before discharging the gas into the atmosphere. Our operations are subject to regulation and periodic monitoring by local environmental protection authorities. The Chinese national and local environmental laws and regulations impose fees for the discharge of waste substances above prescribed levels, require the payment of fines for serious violations and provide that the Chinese national and local governments may at their own discretion close or suspend the operation of any facility that fails to comply with orders requiring it to cease or remedy operations causing environmental damage.

 

No such penalties have been imposed on us or our subsidiaries, and we believe we are currently in compliance with present environmental protection requirements in all material respects, and have obtained all necessary environmental permits for all of our production expansion projects. We are not aware of any other pending or threatened environmental investigation proceeding or action by any governmental agency or third party.

Insurance

 

We maintain an insurance policy covering losses due to fire, earthquake, flood and a wide range of other natural disasters. Insurance coverage for our inventory, fixed assets and on-going projects amounted to approximately RMB 9,204.1 million as of the date of this annual report. We also maintain insurance policies in respect of marine, air and inland transit risks of our products. In addition, we have obtained product liability insurance coverage. The insurance policy covers bodily injuries and property damages caused by the products we sold, supplied or distributed up to specified limits. We do not maintain any insurance coverage for business interruption or key-man life insurance on our executive officers. We consider our insurance coverage to be adequate. However, significant damage to any of our manufacturing facilities and buildings, whether as a result of fire or other causes, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — We have limited insurance coverage and may incur losses resulting from business interruption or natural disasters.”

 

PRC Governmental Regulations

 

This section sets forth a summary of the most significant regulations or requirements that affect our business activities in China. Certain of these regulations and requirements, such as those relating to tax, equity joint ventures, foreign currency exchange, dividend distribution, regulation of foreign exchange in certain onshore and offshore transactions, and regulations of overseas listings, may affect our shareholders’ right to receive dividends and other distributions from us.

 

Renewable Energy Law and Other Government Directives

 

In February 2005, China enacted its Renewable Energy Law, which became effective on January 1, 2006, or the 2006 Renewable Energy Law. The 2006 Renewable Energy Law sets forth the national policy to encourage and support the use of solar and other renewable energy and the use of on-grid generation. On December 26, 2009, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted an amendment to the 2006 Renewable Energy Law, or the Amended Renewable Energy Law, which became effective on April 1, 2010. While the 2006 Renewable Energy Law has laid the legal foundation for developing renewable energy in China, the Amended Renewable Energy Law has introduced practical implementing measures to enhance such development.

 

The Amended Renewable Energy Law details the principles, main content and key issues of the renewable energy development and utilization plans, further elaborates the requirements for grid companies to purchase the full amount of electricity generated from renewable energy by setting out the responsibilities and obligations of the government, the power companies and the grid companies, respectively, and also clarifies that the state will set up a special fund, referred to as the renewable energy development fund, to compensate the difference between the tariff for electricity generated from renewable energy and that generated from conventional energy sources. The proceeds of the renewable energy development fund may also be used to support renewable energy scientific research, finance rural clean energy projects, build independent power systems in remote areas and islands, and build information networks to exploit renewable energy. It is anticipated that China will publish more detailed implementing rules for the Amended Renewable Energy Law and make corresponding changes to those existing implementing rules relating to renewable energy.

 

China’s Ministry of Construction issued a directive in June of 2005, which seeks to expand the use of solar energy in residential and commercial buildings and encourages the increased application of solar energy in townships. In addition, China’s State Council promulgated a directive in June of 2005, which sets forth specific measures to conserve energy resources and encourage exploration, development and use of solar energy in China’s western areas, which are not fully connected to electricity transmission grids, and other rural areas.

 

On April 28, 2007, China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued a Circular on the Eleventh Five-year Plan for the Development of High-Technology Industry, pursuant to which China encourages the production of energy materials, including the high-quality silicon materials for solar cell, in order to establish the independent research and production system of new energy materials.

In July 2007, the PRC State Electricity Regulatory Commission issued the Supervision Regulations on the Purchase of All Renewable Energy by Power Grid Enterprises which became effective on September 1, 2007. To promote the use of renewable energy for power generation, the regulations require that electricity grid enterprises must in a timely manner set up connections between the grids and renewable power generation systems and purchase all the electricity generated by renewable power generation systems. The regulations also provide that power dispatch institutions shall give priority to renewable power generation companies in respect of power dispatch services provision.

 

On August 31, 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, implemented the National Medium- and Long-Term Programs for Renewable Energy, or MLPRE, aiming to raise consumption of renewable energy to 10% and 15% of total energy consumption by 2010 and 2020, up from 7.5% in 2005, which highlights the government’s long-term commitment to the development of renewable energy.

 

On October 28, 2007, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted amendments to the PRC Energy-saving Law, which sets forth policies to encourage the conservation of energy in manufacturing, civic buildings, transportation, government agents and utilities sectors. The amendments also seek to expand the use of the solar energy in construction areas.

 

On March 23, 2009, the Ministry of Finance issued the Provisional Measures for Administration of Government Subsidy Funds for Application of Solar Photovoltaic Technology in Building Construction, which outline a subsidy program dedicated to rooftop PV systems with a minimum capacity of 50 kilowatt-peak.

 

In July 2009, the PRC government announced a new program of incentives for the development of 500 megawatts of large-scale PV projects throughout the country over two to three years. Under this program, on-grid PV projects of at least 300 kilowatts will be eligible for subsidies of 50%. Projects in remote areas with no access to the electricity grid will be eligible for subsidies of 70%.

 

In July 2010, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the “City Illumination Administration Provisions” or the Illumination Provision. The Illumination Provisions encourage the installation and use of renewable energy system such as PV systems in the process of construction and re-construction of city illumination projects.

 

On October 10, 2010, the State Council of China promulgated a decision to accelerate the development of seven strategic new industries. Pursuant to this decision, the PRC government will promote the popularization and application of solar thermal technologies by increasing tax and financial policy support, encouraging investment and providing other forms of beneficial support.

 

In March 2011, the National People’s Congress approved the Outline of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the PRC, which includes a national commitment to promote the development of renewable energy and to enhance the competitiveness of the renewable energy industry.

 

On March 8, 2011, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly promulgated the Notice on Further Application of Renewable Energy in Building Construction, which aims to raise the percentage of renewable energy used in buildings.

 

Environmental Regulations

 

Our manufacturing processes generate noise, waste water, gaseous waste and other industrial waste. We are subject to a variety of governmental regulations related to the storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials. The major environmental regulations applicable to us include the Environmental Protection Law of the PRC, the Law of the PRC on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and its implementation rules, the Law of the PRC on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution and its implementation rules, the Law of PRC on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Pollution and the Law of the PRC on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution.

 

In addition, under the Environmental Protection Law of the PRC, the Ministry of Environmental Protection sets national pollutant emission standards. However, provincial governments may set stricter local

standards, which are required to be registered at the State Administration for Environmental Protection. Enterprises are required to comply with the stricter of the two standards.

 

The relevant laws and regulations generally impose discharge fees based on the level of emission of pollutants. These laws and regulations also impose fines for violations of laws, regulations or decrees and provide for possible closure by the central or local government of any enterprise which fails to comply with orders requiring it to rectify the activities causing environmental damage.

 

Equity Joint Ventures

 

Tianwei Yingli, as a Sino-foreign equity joint venture enterprise, is an equity joint venture subject to certain PRC laws and regulations. Equity joint ventures, as a form of foreign investment permitted in China, are primarily governed by the following laws and regulations:

 

 

An equity joint venture is a limited liability company under PRC law and its establishment is subject to the approval of MOFCOM or its authorized local counterpart where such equity joint venture is located. The board of directors is the highest authority of an equity joint venture and has the power to decide all matters important to the equity joint venture. Each director is appointed for a term of no more than four years and may serve consecutive terms if appointed by the party by which he or she was originally appointed. Each director may be removed by its appointing party, at any time, with or without cause and may be replaced by a nominee appointed by such party before the expiration of such director’s term of office.

 

Resolutions of the board of directors of an equity joint venture involving any matters may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of all directors present in person or by proxy at a meeting of the board, except that resolutions involving the following matters require a unanimous approval of all directors present in person or by proxy at the meeting of the board:

 

 

Tax

 

Enterprise Income Tax

 

PRC enterprise income tax is calculated based on taxable income determined under PRC GAAP and PRC tax laws and regulations.

 

On March 16, 2007, the National People’s Congress passed the Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the EIT Law, which replaces the FIE Income Tax Law and adopts a uniform income tax rate of 25% for most domestic enterprises and foreign investment enterprises. The EIT Law became effective on January 1, 2008. The EIT Law provides a five-year transition period from its effective date for enterprises established before the promulgation date of the EIT Law and which were entitled to preferential tax rates and treatments under the then effective tax laws or regulations. On December 26, 2007, the PRC government issued detailed implementation rules regarding the transitional preferential policies. Furthermore, under the EIT Law, entities that qualify as “high and new technology enterprises strongly supported by the state” are entitled to the preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15%. The Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of

Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Administrative Regulations on the Recognition of High and New Technology Enterprises on April 14, 2008 and the Guidelines for Recognition of High and New Technology Enterprises on July 8, 2008.

 

Tianwei Yingli, which is registered and operates in a “national high-tech zone” in Baoding, China, qualified as a “high and new technology enterprise” under the former Income Tax Law of China for Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises, or the FIE Income Tax Law and as a result had been entitled to a preferential income tax rate of 15% through 2007. In accordance with the FIE Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, as a foreign invested enterprise primarily engaged in manufacturing and in operation for more than ten years, Tianwei Yingli was entitled to a two-year exemption from the 15% enterprise income tax for two years from its first profit-making year following its conversion into a Sino-foreign equity joint venture company, specifically 2007 and 2008, and a 50% reduction in the subsequent three years, from 2009 to 2011. Under the EIT Law and the various implementation rules, Tianwei Yingli continues to enjoy its unexpired tax holiday which is applied to the new income tax rate of 25%, resulting in a tax rate of 0% for 2008, 12.5% for 2009 to 2011 and 25% thereafter. Yingli China was established in October 2007 and was recognized by the Chinese government in December 2008 as a “high and new technology enterprise”. The preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15% was applicable to Yingli China from 2008 to 2010 and the income tax rate will be 25% thereafter. In addition, Fine Silicon was recognized by the Chinese government in November 2009 as a “new and high technology enterprise” and is entitled to the preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15% from 2009 to 2011 and the income tax rate will be 25% thereafter.

 

Moreover, the EIT Law and its implementation rules impose a 10% withholding tax, unless reduced by a tax treaty or agreement, for distributions of dividends in respect of earnings accumulated beginning on January 1, 2008 by a foreign investment enterprise to its immediate overseas holding company, insofar as the later is treated as a non-resident enterprise. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — Dividends we may receive from our operating subsidiaries located in the PRC may be subject to PRC withholding tax.”

 

The EIT Law also provides that enterprises established outside of China whose “de facto management bodies” are located in China are considered “resident enterprises” and are generally subject to the uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate on their worldwide income. Under the implementation rules for the EIT Law issued by the State Council, a “de facto management body” is defined as a body that has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors of an enterprise. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Notice Regarding Determination of Chinese-Controlled Overseas Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the Basis of De Facto Management Bodies, or SAT Circular 82, which sets out criteria for determining whether “de facto management bodies” are located in China for overseas incorporated, domestically controlled enterprises. However, as this circular only applies to enterprises incorporated under laws of foreign countries or regions that are controlled by PRC enterprises or groups of PRC enterprises, it remains unclear how the tax authorities will determine the location of “de facto management bodies” for overseas incorporated enterprises that are controlled by individual PRC residents like us and some of our subsidiaries. Therefore, although substantially all of our management is currently located in the PRC, it remains unclear whether the PRC tax authorities would require or permit our overseas registered entities to be treated as PRC resident enterprises. If the PRC tax authorities determine that Yingli Green Energy and some of our subsidiaries, such as Yingli International, Yingli Capital, Yingli Hong Kong, Cyber Power and Cyber Lighting, are PRC resident enterprises, we and such subsidiaries may be subject to the enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% as to our global income. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Doing Business in China — We and some of our subsidiaries may be deemed PRC resident enterprises under the EIT Law and be subject to PRC taxation as to our worldwide income.”

 

Value Added Tax

 

Pursuant to the Provisional Regulation of the PRC on Value Added Tax and its implementation rules, all entities and individuals that are engaged in the sale of goods, the provision of repairs and replacement services and the importation of goods in China are generally required to pay Value Added Tax at a rate of 17.0% of

the gross sales proceeds received, less any creditable Value Added Tax already paid or borne by the taxpayer. In addition, when exporting goods, the exporter is entitled to a portion of or all the refund of value added tax that it has already paid or borne. Imported raw materials that are used by our operating subsidiaries for manufacturing export products and are deposited in bonded warehouses are exempt from import Value Added Tax.

 

Foreign Currency Exchange

 

Foreign currency exchange in China is primarily governed by the following rules:

 

 

Under the Foreign Currency Administration Rules, the foreign exchange incomes of domestic entities and individuals can be remitted into China or deposited abroad, subject to the conditions and time limits to be issued by the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. According to the Foreign Currency Administration Rules, the Renminbi is convertible for current account items, including the distribution of dividends, interest payments, trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions. Conversion of Renminbi for capital account items, such as direct investment, loan, securities investment, derivative transactions and repatriation of investment, however, is still subject to the approval of, and/or the registration with, SAFE or its local branches.

 

Under the Administration Rules of the Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange, foreign-invested enterprises may only buy, sell and/or remit foreign currencies at those banks authorized to conduct foreign exchange business after providing valid commercial documents and, in the case of capital account item transactions, obtaining approval from SAFE or its local branches. Capital investments by foreign-invested enterprises outside of China are also subject to limitations, which include approvals by the Ministry of Commerce, SAFE and the National Reform and Development Commission or their local counterparts. Currently, the PRC laws and regulations do not provide clear criteria as to how to obtain SAFE approval. SAFE and its local branches have broad discretion as to whether to issue SAFE approval.

 

Dividend Distribution

 

The principal regulations governing distribution of dividends paid by foreign invested enterprises include:

 

 

Under these regulations, Sino-foreign equity joint venture enterprises and wholly foreign owned enterprises in China may pay dividends only out of their retained earnings, if any, determined in accordance with PRC GAAP. The board of directors of a Sino-foreign equity joint venture enterprise has the discretion to allocate a portion of its after-tax profits to reserve funds, employee bonus and welfare funds and enterprise development funds, which may not be distributed to equity owners as dividends. Wholly foreign owned enterprises in China are required to allocate at least 10% of their after-tax profits each year, if any, to their reserve funds until the cumulative amounts in such reserve funds have reached 50% of the registered capital of such enterprises, and to set aside a certain amount of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to its employee bonus and welfare fund. These reserves may not be distributed as cash dividends.

The EIT Law and its implementation rules provide that enterprises established outside of China whose “de facto management bodies” are located in China are considered “resident enterprises” and are generally subject to the uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate as to their worldwide income. Under the implementation rules for the EIT Law issued by the State Council, a “de facto management body” is defined as a body that has substantial and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel, accounting, properties and other factors of an enterprise. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated SAT Circular 82 which sets out criteria for determining whether “de facto management bodies” are located in China for overseas incorporated, domestically controlled enterprises. However, as this circular only applies to enterprises incorporated under laws of foreign countries or regions that are controlled by PRC enterprises or groups of PRC enterprises, it remains unclear how the tax authorities will determine the location of “de facto management bodies” for overseas incorporated enterprises that are controlled by individual PRC residents like us and some of our subsidiaries.

 

Furthermore, the State Administration of Taxation promulgated the Notice on How to Understand and Determine the Beneficial Owners in Tax Agreement in October 2009, or Circular 601, which provides guidance for determining whether a resident of a contracting state is the “beneficial owner” of an item of income under China’s tax treaties and tax arrangements. According to Circular 601, a beneficial owner generally must be engaged in substantive business activities. An agent or conduit company will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and, therefore, will not qualify for treaty benefits. The conduit company normally refers to a company that is set up for the purpose of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits. It remains unclear whether any dividends to be distributed by us to our non-PRC shareholders and ADS holders whose jurisdiction of incorporation has a tax treaty with China providing for a different withholding arrangement will be entitled to the benefits under the relevant withholding arrangement.

 

Regulation of Foreign Exchange in Certain Onshore and Offshore Transactions

 

In October 2005, SAFE issued the Notice on Issues Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-raising and Return Investment Activities of Domestic Residents Conducted via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, or SAFE Notice 75, which became effective as of November 1, 2005. SAFE Notice 75 suspends the implementation of two prior regulations promulgated in January and April of 2005 by SAFE. SAFE Notice 75 states that Chinese residents, whether natural or legal persons, must register with the relevant local SAFE branch prior to establishing or taking control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas equity financing involving onshore assets or equity interests held by them. The term “Chinese legal person residents” as used in SAFE Notice 75 refers to those entities with legal person status or other economic organizations established within the territory of China. The term “Chinese natural person residents” as used in SAFE Notice 75 includes all Chinese citizens and all other natural persons, including foreigners, who habitually reside in China for economic benefit.

 

Chinese residents are required to complete amended registrations with the local SAFE branch upon (i) injection of equity interests or assets of an onshore enterprise to the offshore entity, or (ii) subsequent overseas equity financing by such offshore entity. Chinese residents are also required to complete amended registrations or filing with the local SAFE branch within 30 days of any material change in the shareholding or capital of the offshore entity, such as changes in share capital, share transfers and long-term equity or debt investments, and providing security. Chinese residents who have already incorporated or gained control of offshore entities that have made onshore investment in China before SAFE Notice 75 was promulgated must register their shareholding in the offshore entities with the local SAFE branch on or before March 31, 2006.

 

Under SAFE Notice 75, Chinese residents are further required to repatriate back into China all of their dividends, profits or capital gains obtained from their shareholdings in the offshore entity within 180 days of their receipt of such dividends, profits or capital gains. However, under the amended Foreign Currency Administration Rules, the foreign exchange incomes of domestic entities and individuals can be remitted into China or deposited abroad, subject to the conditions and time limits to be issued by SAFE. The registration and filing procedures under SAFE Notice 75 are prerequisites for other approval and registration procedures necessary for capital inflow from the offshore entity, such as inbound investments or shareholders loans, or

capital outflow to the offshore entity, such as the payment of profits or dividends, liquidating distributions, equity sale proceeds, or the return of funds upon a capital reduction.

 

To further clarify the implementation of SAFE Notice 75, SAFE issued Circular No. 106 on May 29, 2007. Under Circular No. 106, PRC subsidiaries of an offshore special purpose company are required to coordinate and supervise the filing of SAFE registrations by the offshore holding company’s shareholders who are PRC residents in a timely manner. If these shareholders fail to comply, the PRC subsidiaries are required to report to the local SAFE authorities. If the PRC subsidiaries of the offshore parent company do not report to the local SAFE authorities, they may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to their offshore parent company and the offshore parent company may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital into its PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the above SAFE registration requirements could result in liabilities under PRC laws for evasion of foreign exchange restrictions.

 

On August 29, 2008, SAFE promulgated Circular 142, or SAFE Notice 142, a notice regulating the conversion by a foreign invested company of foreign currency into Renminbi by restricting how the converted Renminbi may be used. The notice requires that the registered capital of a foreign-invested company settled in Renminbi converted from foreign currencies may only be used for purposes within the business scope approved by the applicable governmental authority and may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the registered capital of a foreign-invested company settled in Renminbi converted from foreign currencies. The use of such Renminbi capital may not be changed without SAFE’s approval, and may not in any case be used to repay Renminbi loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Notice 142 will result in severe penalties, such as heavy fines. As a result, SAFE Notice 142 may significantly limit our ability to transfer the net proceeds from our financings to our PRC subsidiaries, which may adversely affect the business expansions of our PRC subsidiaries, and we may not be able to convert the net proceeds from our financings into Renminbi to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies.

 

Regulations of Employee Share Options

 

In December 2006, the People’s Bank of China promulgated the Administrative Measures on Individual Person Foreign Exchange, or the PBOC Regulation, setting forth the respective requirements for foreign exchange transactions by individuals (both PRC or non-PRC citizens) under the current account and the capital account. In January 2007, SAFE issued the implementation rules for the PBOC Regulation which, among others, specified the approval requirement for certain capital account transactions such as a PRC citizen’s participation in the employee stock ownership plan or stock options plan of an overseas listed company. On March 28, 2007, SAFE promulgated the Operating Procedures on Administration of Foreign Exchange regarding PRC Individuals’ Participating in Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Stock Option Plan of Overseas Listed Companies, or the Stock Option Rule, to further clarify the formalities and application documents in connection with the subject matter. Under the Stock Option Rule, PRC individuals who will participate in the employment stock ownership plan or the stock option plan of an overseas listed company are required to appoint a domestic agent for the relevant foreign exchange matters in the PRC. For participants of an employment stock ownership plan, an overseas custodian bank must be retained by the domestic agent to hold on trusteeship all overseas assets held by such participants under the employment stock ownership plan. In the case of a stock option plan, a financial institution with stock brokerage qualification at the place where the overseas listed company is listed or a qualified institution designated by the overseas listed company is required to be retained to handle matters in connection with exercise or sale of stock options for the stock option plan participants. For participants who had already participated in an employment stock ownership plan or stock option plan before the date of the Stock Option Rule, the Stock Option Rule requires their domestic employers or domestic agents to comply with the relevant formalities within three months of the date of the Stock Option Rule. The failure to comply with the Stock Option Rule may subject the plan participants, the company offering the plan or the relevant intermediaries, as the case may be, to penalties under PRC foreign exchange regime.

C. Organizational Structure

 

The following diagram illustrates our company’s organizational structure, and the place of formation, ownership interest and affiliation of each of our significant subsidiaries as of the date of this annual report.

 

 

 

 

 

D.  Property, Plant and Equipment

 

Our principle executive offices are located at No. 3055 Fuxing Middle Road in the National New and High-technology Industrial Development Zone in Baoding, China. We conduct our research, development, manufacturing and management in sites located in Baoding, Hebei Province and Haikou, Hainan Province:

 

 

 

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” or in other parts of this annual report.

 

 

We are one of the leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers in the world. We design, manufacturer and sell PV modules, and design, assemble, sell and install PV systems. We sell PV modules to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. Currently, we also sell PV systems, primarily to customers in China.

 

Our manufacturing capacity and operations have grown significantly since we completed construction of our first manufacturing facilities for PV modules in 2002. We use most of the polysilicon, polysilicon ingots and wafers and PV cells we produce for the production of PV modules, which we sell to third-party customers. We sold 281.5 megawatts, 525.3 megawatts and 1,061.6 megawatts of PV modules in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. In addition, in January 2009, we completed the acquisition of Cyber Power, which, through its principal operating subsidiary in China, Fine Silicon, started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. With our in-house polysilicon manufacturing capacity, our current products and services substantially cover the entire PV industry value chain, ranging from the manufacture of polysilicon, multicrystalline polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to the manufacture of PV systems and the installation of PV systems.

The most significant factors that affect our financial performance and results of operations are:

 

 

Industry Demand

 

Our business and revenue growth depend on the market demand for PV products. Although solar power technology has been used for several decades, the PV market grew significantly only in the past several years. According to PHOTON Consulting, the global PV market, as measured by annual PV system installation at end-user locations, increased from 1.6 gigawatts in 2005 to 18.4 gigawatts in 2010. In addition, as of May 3, 2011, PHOTON Consulting forecasted global PV industry revenues and PV system installations to be US$159 billion (Total solar power installations revenue pool) and 51 gigawatts in 2015, respectively. However, demand for our PV products also depends on the general economic conditions in our target markets. Since the second half of 2008, economies around the world, including those in our target markets, have experienced a period of slow economic growth as compared to prior years. Partly as a result of these weakened worldwide macroeconomic conditions, the growth in demand for PV modules had declined significantly from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009. Starting from the second quarter of 2009, the macroeconomic environment began to improve, which lead to an increase of demand for our products. However, we cannot assure you that such recovery will continue or be sustained or will ultimately have a positive effect on the general operating environment of our industry.

 

Government Subsidies and Economic Incentives

 

We believe that the near-term growth of the market for PV products depends in part on the availability and size of government subsidies and economic incentives. Today, the cost of solar power substantially exceeds the cost of electrical power generated from conventional fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. As a result, governments in many countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, France, South Korea, the United States, China, Greece, Israel, South Africa, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Czech Republic have provided subsidies and economic incentives for the use of renewable energy such as solar power to reduce dependency on conventional fossil fuels as a source of energy. These subsidies and economic incentives have been in the form of capital cost rebates, feed-in tariffs, tax credits, net metering and other incentives to end-users, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of solar power products, including PV products.

 

The demand for our PV modules and PV systems in our current, targeted or potential markets is affected significantly by these government subsidies and economic incentives. See “Item 3.D. Key Information — Risk Factors — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — A significant reduction in or discontinuation of government subsidies and economic incentives may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.”

 

The PRC Renewable Energy Law, which became effective on January 1, 2006, sets forth policies to encourage the development and use of solar energy and other non-fossil fuel renewable energy. On December 26, 2009, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted an amendment to the 2006 Renewable Energy Law, or the Amended Renewable Energy Law, which became effective on April 1, 2010. While the 2006 Renewable Energy Law has laid the legal foundation for developing renewable energy

in China, the Amended Renewable Energy Law has introduced practical implementing measures to enhance such development. It provides, among others, that the State will set up a special fund, referred to as the renewable energy development fund, the proceeds of which may be used to support renewable energy scientific research, finance rural clean energy projects, build independent power systems in remote areas and islands, and build information networks to exploit renewable energy. It is anticipated that China will publish more detailed implementing rules for the Amended Renewable Energy Law, which may include those relating to the operation and administration of the renewable energy development fund. On March 23, 2009, the Ministry of Finance issued the Provisional Measures for Administration of Government Subsidy Funds for Application of Solar Photovoltaic Technology in Building Construction, which outline a subsidy program dedicated to rooftop PV systems with a minimum capacity of 50 kilowatt-peak. While we believe this subsidy program will be positive for the development of the Chinese solar sector, the specifics of the implementation of the subsidy program have not yet been made public and we cannot predict with certainty the impact of such subsidy program on our business. If this subsidy program succeeds in significantly increasing the installation of rooftop PV system in China or if the PRC government adopts other subsidy programs or economic incentives for the development and use of solar energy, the demand for our PV modules and PV systems may be significantly affected by such subsidies and economic incentives, which may have a positive impact on our results of operations. In July 2009, the PRC government announced a new program of incentives for the development of 500 megawatts of large-scale PV projects throughout the country over two to three years. Under this program, on-grid PV projects of at least 300 kilowatts will be eligible for subsidies of 50%. Projects in remote areas with no access to the electricity grid will be eligible for subsidies of 70%. In 2010, the PRC government also enacted a revised Renewable Energy Law giving clearer guidance to address issues in the existing legislation and affirming the role of the government in organization and planning, as well as switching the purchasing system for renewable energy from a mandatory system o a guaranteed purchase scheme. These guaranteed purchase principles make electricity distributors more willing to purchase renewable energy by more clearly defining the relationship between electricity distributors and power generation businesses in terms of rights and responsibilities. The law also gives guarantees regarding the launch of future on-grid pricing systems or feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. In 2010, newly installed capacity for solar power systems in China reached 400 megawatts, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. As China’s 12th Five Year Plan specified renewable energy sources as focal points for development, the Chinese on-grid solar market is expected to continue growing. In December 2010, we have been selected as a major PV module supplier to the Golden Sun Program, which is sponsored by Ministry of Finance of China (the “Program”). 272 megawatts PV systems were announced under the Program, to which we are expected to supply approximately 70% of PV modules. We received an advance payment of RMB749.4 million (US$113.5 million), or 35% of the total purchase price, in December 2010.

 

Availability and Accessibility of Financing for Solar Energy Applications

 

PV systems projects generally require significant upfront expenditures, and as a result, our customers have historically relied on financing for the purchase of our products. If financing for solar applications becomes inaccessible, the growth of the market for solar energy applications may be adversely affected. For example, the average selling price of our PV modules decreased significantly from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, partly due to tighter credit for PV system project financing as a result of the continuing adverse credit market conditions. In addition, rising interest rates could render existing financings more expensive, as well as serve as an obstacle for potential financings that would otherwise spur the growth of the PV industry.

 

Capacity

 

In order to take advantage of expected market demand for PV products, we have been expanding our manufacturing capacity. We started producing PV modules in 2002 with initial manufacturing capacity of three megawatts, polysilicon ingots and wafers in October 2003 with initial manufacturing capacity of six megawatts and PV cells in March 2004 with initial annual manufacturing capacity of three megawatts. In accordance with our business model of a vertically integrated PV product manufacturer, we expanded our manufacturing

capacity for each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 megawatts as of December 31, 2008, 600 megawatts as of December 31, 2009, and 1,000 megawatts as of December 31, 2010.

 

The size of manufacturing capacity has a significant bearing on the profitability and competitive position of PV product manufacturers. Increased manufacturing capacity generates greater revenues through the production and sales of more PV products and also contributes to reduced manufacturing costs through economies of scale. Achieving economies of scale from expanded manufacturing capacity is critical to maintaining our competitive position in the PV industry as manufacturers with greater economies of scale may manage their production more efficiently, obtain a greater market share by offering their products at a more competitive price by virtue of their greater ability to obtain volume discounts from their polysilicon and other raw material suppliers and have other bargaining leverage.

 

Currently, we are in the process of further expanding our production capacity by building 600 megawatts of monocrystalline PV manufacturing capacity in Baoding, Hebei Province and an additional 100 megawatts of multicrystalline PV manufacturing capacity in Haikou, Hainan Province. Combined with our existing capacity, these expansion projects are expected to bring our total overall annual production capacity to 1,700 megawatts of PV products by the end of 2011.

 

In addition, Fine Silicon, our in-house polysilicon production subsidiary, has started trial production of solar-grade polysilicon since late 2009 and is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011.

 

Competition and Product Pricing

 

PV modules, which are currently our principal products, are priced primarily on the basis of the number of watts of electricity they generate and the market price per watt for PV modules. We price our PV modules based on the prevailing market prices at the time we enter into sales contracts with our customers or as our customers place their purchase orders with us, taking into account various factors including, among others, the size of the contract or the purchase order, the strength and history of our relationship with a particular customer and our polysilicon costs. We believe that the quality of our PV products and our low-cost manufacturing capabilities have enabled us with flexibility in adjusting the price of our products in accordance with our sales strategy and market demands.

 

Since 2003 and until the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2008, the average selling prices of PV modules had been rising across the industry, primarily due to the high demand for PV modules as well as rising polysilicon costs during the same period. The weakened demand for PV modules due to weakened macroeconomic conditions, combined with the increased supply of PV modules due to production capacity expansion by PV module manufacturers worldwide in recent years, has caused the price of PV modules to decline beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. The credit market conditions have improved since the second quarter of 2009, which has contributed to an overall increase in the demand for our products in the second half of 2009. However, decreasing costs of raw materials continued to put pressure on the selling prices of the PV modules. The average selling prices in 2010 declined during the first, the second and the third quarter, and slightly bounced back in the fourth quarter of 2010 which was primarily attributable to the robust market demand, broader recognition of our premium brand and diversified customer base. However, we expect that the prices of PV products, including PV modules, may continue to decline in 2011 due to reduced government subsidies. Fluctuations in prevailing market prices may have a material effect on the prices of our PV modules and our profitability, particularly if prices of PV modules continue to decline or if prices of PV modules rise at a slower pace than the cost of polysilicon increases.

 

We sell our PV modules primarily through sales contracts with a term of less than one year and are obligated to deliver PV modules according to pre-agreed prices and delivery schedules.

 

Availability and Price of Polysilicon

 

High purity polysilicon and polysilicon scraps are the most important raw materials used in our manufacturing process. Until the third quarter of 2008, an industry-wide shortage of high purity polysilicon

coupled with rapidly growing demand from the solar power industry caused rapid increases of high purity polysilicon prices. However, during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first half of 2009, high purity polysilicon prices declined sharply as a result of significant new manufacturing capacity coming on line and falling demand for solar power products and semiconductor devices resulting from the global financial crisis and credit market conditions. Since the third quarter of 2010, the polysilicon price has rebounded due to the recovery of demand for PV products in main markets. Our average purchase price of polysilicon per kilogram decreased by 28.9% in 2010 compared to 2009.

 

The average price of polysilicon over the medium to long term will depend on a number of factors, including the macroeconomic environment, the scope and progress of current and future manufacturing capacity expansion plans of the polysilicon suppliers, the level of demand for polysilicon from the PV and semiconductor industries and any changes in government regulations and subsidies in respect of PV and other alternative energy industry that may significantly affect the demand outlook for polysilicon. We believe that none of these factors can be predicted with reasonable certainty as of the date of this annual report, and the average price of polysilicon may increase or decrease significantly over the medium to long term as a result of any combination of such factors.

 

Our process technology enables us to increase our utilization of polysilicon scraps, the price of which has historically been significantly lower than high-purity polysilicon, in the production of ingots and wafers. However, as the price of high purity polysilicon has declined significantly since the fourth quarter of 2008, we have been utilizing an increased proportion of high purity polysilicon in our manufacturing process to further ensure the high quality standards of our PV modules. In addition, we are able to utilize polysilicon scraps and low-grade polysilicon to produce monocrystalline silicon that can be combined into our production of ingots and wafers to reduce manufacturing costs.

 

Historically, we have relied on spot market purchase to meet a significant portion of our polysilicon needs. In order to secure adequate and timely supply of high purity polysilicon and polysilicon scraps, we have historically entered into various purchase agreements and memorandums of understanding with local and foreign suppliers, including some of the world’s major polysilicon suppliers. Supplies under these purchase agreements started in early 2009. In response to the significant decrease in polysilicon price since the fourth quarter of 2008, we have renegotiated with our suppliers to reduce the purchase price for a substantial amount of polysilicon supplied under certain of our prior polysilicon supply contracts. We cannot assure you that we will be able to secure sufficient quantities of polysilicon and polysilicon scraps to support the expansion of our manufacturing capacity as currently planned. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Us and the PV Industry — We had experienced, and may experience in the future, industry-wide shortage of polysilicon. Our failure to obtain polysilicon in sufficient quantities, of appropriate quality and in a timely manner could disrupt our operations, prevent us from operating at full capacity or limit our ability to expand as planned, which will reduce, and limit the growth of, our manufacturing output and revenue.”

 

From 2006 to 2010, we entered into seven long-term supply contracts with Wacker Chemie AG, or Wacker, a German polysilicon supplier, for supplies of polysilicon from 2009 through 2013, from 2009 through 2017, from 2010 through 2018, from 2009 through 2011, from 2010 through 2017, from 2011 through 2013 and from 2011 through 2018, respectively. In addition, we entered into two supply agreements in February 2008 with OCI Company Ltd., or OCI, formerly known as DC Chemical, for supplies of polysilicon for 2008 and for the period from 2009 through 2013, respectively, and in May 2008, we entered into a third polysilicon supply agreement with OCI for an additional supply of polysilicon from April 2008 to December 2008. From 2009 to the date of this annual report, we entered into another two long-term supply contracts with OCI, for supplies of polysilicon from 2011 through 2015 and from 2012 through 2018, respectively. We also entered into a polysilicon supply contract with Daqo New Energy Corp., or Daqo, formerly known as Sailing, for polysilicon to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the end of 2010. In August, 2010, we entered into another polysilicon supply agreement with Daqo for supplies of polysilicon from 2011 through 2012. In April 2011, we entered into a long-term polysilicon supply agreement with Hemlock Semiconductor Pte.Ltd., or Hemlock, for supplies of polysilicon from 2013 through 2020.

In January 2009, we acquired Cyber Power, which was then a development stage enterprise designed to produce polysilicon. Fine Silicon, the principal operating subsidiary of Cyber Power, started trial production of polysilicon in late 2009 and is expected to reach its full capacity of 3,000 tons per year by the end of 2011. However, we do not expect that our in-house polysilicon production capacity will meet our entire polysilicon needs in the near future.

 

Vertically Integrated Manufacturing Capabilities

 

We believe our vertically integrated business model offers us several advantages, particularly in areas of cost reduction and quality control, over our competitors that depend on third parties to source core product components. First, the vertical integration enables us to capture margins at every stage of the PV product value chain in which we are engaged. Second, by streamlining our manufacturing processes, we can reduce production costs and costs associated with toll manufacturing, packaging and transportation as well as breakage losses that occur during shipment between various production locations associated with toll manufacturing arrangements. Third, we control operations at substantially all stages of the PV value chain, including research and development, which enables us to more closely monitor the quality of our PV products from start to finish, and design and streamline our manufacturing processes in a way that enables us to leverage our technologies more efficiently and reduce costs at each stage of the manufacturing process. We believe that the synergy effect from our vertically integrated business model has enabled us to reduce the quantity of polysilicon we use to make PV modules, improve the conversion efficiency of our PV cells and reduce the lead time needed to fulfill our customer orders.

 

Manufacturing Technologies

 

The advancement of manufacturing technologies is important in increasing the conversion efficiency of PV cells and reducing the production costs of PV products. Because PV modules are priced based on the number of watts of electricity they generate, higher conversion efficiency generally leads to higher revenues from the sale of PV modules.

 

We continually make efforts to develop advanced manufacturing technologies to increase the conversion efficiency of our PV cells. We employ a number of techniques to reduce our production costs while striving to reach a PV cell conversion efficiency ratio that is on par with or above an acceptable range. For example, we use polysilicon feedstock that mixes high purity polysilicon with polysilicon scraps, which is substantially less expensive than high purity polysilicon, at a ratio which we believe yields an enhanced balance of cost and quality. Our research and development team continues to focus on finding ways to improve our manufacturing technology and reduce manufacturing costs without compromising the quality of our products.

 

For our newly adopted monocrystalline PV technologies, we have been in collaboration with the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, a leading solar research center in Europe, and Tempress Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amtech Systems, Inc., a global supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of PV cells, to implement Project PANDA, a research and development project for next-generation high efficiency monocrystalline PV cells since June 2009. Our 300 megawatts of PANDA production capacity for each of monocrystalline ingots and wafers, cells and modules in Baoding, Hebei Province has started initial production in July 2010. On the PANDA commercial lines, we achieved an average cell conversion efficiency rate of 18.5 in 2010, and reached a record cell conversion efficiency rate of 19.89% on trail production lines.

 

Net Revenues

 

We currently derive net revenues from three sources:

 

 

The following table sets forth each revenue source as a percentage of total consolidated net revenues for the periods indicated.

 

 

Our net revenues are net of business tax, value-added tax, city construction tax and education surcharge. Key factors affecting our net revenues include the average selling price per watt and wattage of our PV modules sold.

 

We have been dependent on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, sales to customers that individually exceeded 10% of our consolidated net revenues accounted for 11.6%, 16.9% and 12.0% of our consolidated net revenues, respectively. Our largest customers have changed from year to year due to the rapid growth of the sales of our PV modules, our diversification into new geographic markets and our ability to find new customers willing to place large orders with us.

 

We currently sell most of our PV modules to customers located in Europe. The following table sets forth our total consolidated net revenues by geographic region for the periods indicated: