China was expected to produce solar panels with a combined capacity of 60 gigawatts (GW) this year, said Wang Bohua, secretary general of China's photovoltaic industry association.

China produced panels with capacity of 48 GW in 2016.

The United States has told the World Trade Organization it was considering putting emergency "safeguard" tariffs on imported solar cells, a move aimed at shielding its industry from a damaging, unforeseen surge in imports.

The United States has been vying with China and India to become a market leader in an industry where production costs have tumbled, favoring producers of scale.

China had a total of 101.82 GW installed solar capacity by June, after adding 24.4 GW in the first six months of 2017, the industry association said. It will soon reach 110 GW, the target Beijing had aimed to achieved by 2020.

China generates about one terawatt hour per year per gigawatt of solar. China will generate about 6200 TWh in 2017 and 6500 TWh in 2018.
China generates about seven terawatt hours per year per gigawatt of nuclear.
China generates about four terawatt hours per year per gigawatt of coal.