Reassessing the International Competitiveness and Economic Sustainability of China’s Solar PV Industry: A Systematic Review and Evidence Synthesis

This study systematically reviews and re-evaluates the international competitiveness and economic sustainability of China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. Based on the PRISMA protocol, it integrates both qualitative and quantitative evidence from 70 core English-language publications published between 2000 and 2025. An analytical framework is developed that combines keyword co-occurrence analysis, thematic clustering, and mechanism pathway mapping. The study identifies three key thematic domains: policy governance mechanisms, economic feasibility and cost structures, and the coupling between technological innovation and environmental performance. The findings reveal a transition in China’s PV development pathway—from early policy-driven expansion to the co-evolution of institutional adaptation and market mechanisms—highlighting the dynamic tension among multi-level variables. Four institutional dimensions and associated variable chains are proposed, uncovering long-term contradictions such as the reliance on subsidies versus structural efficiency and the strategic mismatch between national industrial strategies and global decarbonization goals. The study suggests that future research should prioritize system modeling, feedback mechanism identification, and the theoretical expansion of multi-level governance frameworks. In doing so, this review provides a reusable variable classification framework for analyzing green industrial transformation and offers policy insights for emerging economies engaged in global climate governance.