PVTIME – On January 15, Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) (“Daqo New Energy”, the “Company” or “we”) addressed comments in recent third-party research reports and related news media about its exposure to risks relating to forced labor.
Daqo New Energy wishes to reiterate that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards forced labor in its own facilities and across its supply chain.
Polysilicon manufacturing is a complicated chemical process which is highly automated, digitalized and technology-intensive. It requires highly trained personnel for its production lines and is not labor-intensive. The Company considers the idea of employing “forced labor” or “prison labor” as not only morally abhorrent but also wholly inconsistent with its goals to be successful in terms of safety, efficiency and costs. We believe that solar professionals and anyone in the United States or elsewhere who has basic understanding and common sense of the polysilicon industry will likely share this view.
We locate our production facilities in Xinjiang in order to be close to sources of raw materials and energy for polysilicon production. We have built a world-class polysilicon facility in Xinjiang to better serve the fast growing solar PV industry which is one of the foundational industries necessary to reduce the global carbon footprint. We call for rational and responsible dialogue across the global solar PV industry. We welcome more international collaboration and healthy competition. We need to work together to combat climate change and elevate the prosperity and social welfare of the communities in which our facilities are based and elsewhere around the globe.