With its rapid economic development, China has already become the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, facing the pressure from environment and clean energy. In the last decade, the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry in China has developed rapidly, with the joint promotion of the market and policies. China's PV modules' production is ranked top in the world, making a significant impact on the world's renewable energy development and solar PV industrial sector. Meanwhile, China's solar PV industry is facing several challenges, including international trade conflicts and market competition, as well as domestic problems, such as the vicious competition between enterprises, financial issues such as loan-withdrawing and stint loans by banks, and business triangle-debts. The focus of this paper is on China's PV industry's development history and status quo, the most dynamic aspect of current renewable energy development. The PV sector's existing problems and challenges have been analyzed by several field studies of the PV industry's major manufacturers covering four of world's top PV module producers. Recommendations regarding the policy framework and implementation incentives will also be provided with the aim of improving market forces as a catalyst for transforming future renewable energy development. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.