DSPV (Distributed solar PV) power, either located on rooftops or ground-mounted, is by far one of the most important and fast-growing renewable energy technologies. Since the second half of 2012, China has shifted from LSPV (large-scale solar PV) to DSPV and a series of policy to promote DSPV power deployment have been put in place. Unfortunately these policies were not well performed due to myriad constraints on DSPV power deployment across the country. Building mainly on non-academic sources including government documents and presentations, industry reports and presentations, media reports, and interviews, this paper firstly provides a comprehensive review of China's policy on DSPV passed between the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2014, then barriers associated with DSPV deployment are identified. This is followed by an account and discussions of recent policy changes since Sep 2014, and major local incentives. In addition, policy performance is briefly reviewed. At the end of the paper, conclusions and policy implications are provided. This paper provides an understanding of the recent DSPV policy progress in China and insights for policy makers in other economies which are experimenting DSPV power policies. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.