Canadian Solar Partners with Sichuan Development to Launch Solar Investment Fund in China

GUELPH, Ontario, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company has entered into an agreement with Sichuan Development Investment Management Ltd. ("Sichuan Development") to establish an investment fund to finance the development, construction and ownership of solar power generation projects in China.

Sichuan Development is an investment management company established and funded by the Sichuan Development Holding Co. Ltd., an investment arm of the Sichuan provincial government. Sichuan Development has over RMB 23 billion (USD3.7 billion) of assets under management and is expected to provide support to facilitate the project development and financing to the fund.

A total of RMB5 billion (USD800 million) is expected to be raised from Sichuan Development, Canadian Solar and third party investors. Sichuan Development and Canadian Solar plan to contribute an initial amount equally, with third party investors expected to contribute the remaining amount to reach the target. 

"Our partnership with Sichuan Development to develop, build and own solar power plants is an important milestone for Canadian Solar. This partnership will leverage Canadian Solar's proven track record in developing and building solar power plants on a global basis with Sichuan Development financial strength and credibility to create an industry leader well positioned to participate in the expected growth in the adoption of solar energy in China. While we expect to cover the whole country, this fund will focus particularly on utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects in Sichuan Province, China and other solar resourceful regions in the country," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.

About Canadian Solar Inc.
Founded in 2001 in Ontario, Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar has an industry leading and geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power projects as well as a track record of successful solar deployment boasting over 7 GW of premium quality modules installed in over 70 countries during the past decade. Canadian Solar is committed to providing high-quality solar products and solar energy solutions to customers around the world. For more information about our company, products and projects please visit www.canadiansolar.com.

About Sichuan Development Investment Management Ltd.
Headquartered in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, Sichuan Development Investment Management Ltd. is an investment management established and funded by Sichuan Development (Holding) Ltd. ("Sichuan Development Holding") in 2012. Sichuan Development Holding is an investment arm of Sichuan provincial government. Sichuan Development invests and manages over RMB23 billion of assets in various infrastructure projects.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the risks regarding general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of solar grade silicon; demand for solar products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand in our project markets, including Canada, the U.S., Japan and China; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; trade protectionism in Europe, the U.S. and India; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 28, 2014. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.