Most solar manufactures are located in eastern China. Fifty percent of the manufacturers are centralized in 3 provinces: Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangsu. In 2014, the annual amount of exports was near USD 300 million. The most general mode of product sales is three-tiered: the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer. For some compact products, such as solar water heaters, the installation is the responsibility of the seller, and for the large construction projects, the manufacturers have specific departments in charge of the installation work.
In the first half of 2019, exports of solar thermal products from China totaled 1.15 million square meters, imports of solar thermal products to China were 29,000 square meters.