PV cell maker Yingfa Ruineng chases IPO, charged up by National Green Fund backing

The specialist in N-type cells aims to list in Hong Kong, boasting status as the world’s third-largest producer of N-type TOPCon technology

Key Takeaways:

• Yingfa Ruineng has filed for a Hong Kong IPO, reporting it turned profitable last year, as its overseas gross margins far exceeded domestic levels
• The maker of N-type solar cells’ backers include China’s National Green Fund

By Bai Xin Rui

The Middle Eastern conflict that’s sent energy prices soaring, combined with reports that Tesla plans to start procuring photovoltaic equipment from China, is breathing some much-needed new life into the industry’s embattled supply chain. That momentum could be a factor behind solar cell maker Sichuan Yingfa Ruineng Technology Co. Ltd.’s new Hong Kong listing application, aiming to tap not only a nascent industry rebound but also one of the city’s hottest IPO markets in years.

Yingfa Ruineng is a relative newcomer to China’s solar field, founded in 2016 by Zhang Fayu, who began in electronic component manufacturing. The company began commercial production of P-type PERC cells in 2016. Following multiple financing rounds to support its growth, it became the world’s first PV cell manufacturer to commercialize N-type xBC cells in August 2025. It also ranks as the world’s third-largest producer of N-type TOPCon cells. Zhang’s family currently holds 49.1% of the company, while China’s prestigious National Green Fund, supported by the Ministry of Finance, holds a 7.86% stake.

Involution clampdown beneficiary

Rapid growth in demand for electricity from data centers, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles, has led to a surge in concurrent demand for solar cells, since many such applications are powered by on-site sources, often from solar arrays. As that has happened, solar cell shipments have surged from 208.2 GW in 2021 to 694.8 GW in 2025, with about 85% of the world’s photovoltaic manufacturing capacity based in China.

Demand has been especially strong in China as well, as Beijing promotes its “dual carbon” reduction goals of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. That has led to a wave of solar farm building by mostly state-owned entities to help meet those goals. Such aggressive building, both inside and also outside China, was once a major enticement for new investment as companies spent aggressively to gain first-mover advantage. But the wave of expansion over the last three years has created a current situation of massive overcapacity, characterized by a flood of products that largely look and perform similarly. That’s resulted in cutthroat competition and declining product prices, sending most companies sharply into the red.

Last year, Beijing introduced policies to try to curb the overheated competition, supporting more advanced enterprises while shutting down ones using older technology. That’s helped to stabilize photovoltaic prices and is producing some early signs of recovery. Older companies have historically produced P-type cells, while ones with funds to invest are making newer, higher-efficiency N-type cells. The measures designed to curb competition have seen many makers of lower-efficiency P-type cells shut down, benefiting N-type cell makers.

Yingfa Ruineng has been a major beneficiary of that shift due to its recent embrace of N-type cells. According to its listing document, P-type cells accounted for more than 90% of its revenue as recently as 2023, providing 9.65 billion yuan ($14 billion) in revenue that year, while N-type cells represented only 7.1%. But by 2025, this situation had reversed. P-type cells contributed just 3.6% of revenue that year, amounting to just 310 million yuan, while N-type cells surged to 88.1%, worth 7.68 billion yuan. N-type production capacity reached 32.8 GW, many times higher than 1.4 GW for P-type capacity.

N-type cells also commanded higher gross margins than their P-type counterparts, at 17.9% versus 15.4% last year, respectively. Those improved margins helped the company to return to the black in 2025 with a net profit of 857 million yuan, reversing an 864 million yuan loss in 2024. The company’s revenue also doubled last year to 8.71 billion yuan, after plunging by more than half in 2024 at the height of the overheated competition.

Yingfa Ruineng has also gotten a boost by accelerating its drive into overseas markets, where prices are generally higher and competition is less intense. In 2023, the vast majority of its revenue – some 96.7% – came from its home China market, with only 3.3% from overseas. But the company has been aggressively expanding its international channels, causing China sales to drop to just 59.5% of revenue last year, while overseas markets surged to 40.5%.

That shift has helped the company’s profitability, since overseas markets typically deliver significantly higher gross margins. For example, overseas sales for N-type products commanded a gross margin of 27.8% in 2025, exceeding domestic margins by 17.2 percentage points. The U.S. market was especially strong, with margins of 36.7%. Revenue from the U.S. reached 1.24 billion yuan last year, representing an 11-fold year-on-year increase and accounting for 14.3% of the company’s total. Yingfa Ruineng attributed the strong U.S. growth to increased local adoption of photovoltaic products, coupled with orders from U.S. module manufacturers.

Climbing inventory days

While many of its trends are positive, one that could warrant attention is Yingfa Ruineng’s steadily rising inventory. That’s caused inventory turnover days to rapidly climb from just 10 in 2023 to 47 days in 2024 and rise higher still to 69 days last year. The company attributed the increase to higher raw material stockpiles, heightened competition among downstream manufacturers causing finished goods inventory to accumulate, and the expansion of overseas sales operations that require longer delivery cycles compared to domestic sales.

We should also note that Yingfa Ruineng’s revenue is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Its factories often shut down during the Chinese Lunar New Year in January or February, leading to lower production in the first quarter. Meanwhile, overseas sales may slow in Europe and the U.S. during holiday periods like summer breaks and Christmas. Then there are other factors, such as rushes to meet deadlines, often at the end of the year, to be eligible for state subsidies. Yingfa Ruineng says sales are typically strongest in the first and fourth quarters, while the second and third are softer due to seasonal project delays and reduced activity.

From the broadest perspective, China’s measures to cool the overheated competition could mean the solar industry has reached the bottom of its latest cyclical trough. Yingfa Ruineng not only stands to benefit as prices firm, but could also boost its margins by expanding overseas.

U.S.-listed First Solar (FSLR.US) currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 12 times, though Yingfa Ruineng may need to seek a lower multiple to attract investors due to its size and the tentativeness of the market’s turnaround. Accordingly, a pricing at around 10 times its earnings or less could attract investors to the listing.

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