China is the world's largest solar power producer, with installed capacity of 77.4 gigawatts at the end of 2016, according to figures from the National Energy Administration. However a section of new "solar highway" in eastern China was stolen just five days after it opened, local media reported.

The one-kilometre stretch of "photovoltaic highway" - built of solar panels which cars can drive over - opened for testing in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, on December 28, 2017. During a routine inspection, staff found that it had been vandalised and a portion of it was missing, according to local Qilu Evening Newspaper.

A narrow 1.8-metre panel had been removed and seven surrounding panels damaged by the thieves. "We can speculate the damage was not done by hand, nor does it appear it was done by a big vehicle," Xu Dehao, a construction worker at Shandong Pavenergy, the company overseeing the project, told the newspaper. "It was more likely done by a professional team that may been interested in the technology used on the road."

The solar highway forms part of Jinan's ring road system. The road has three layers, according to China Daily: an insulating layer on the bottom, a middle layer of photovoltaic devices, and a protective top layer of transparent concrete.

Xinhua reported earlier that the panels can generate 1 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, which is enough to meet the daily demand of about 800 households. Electricity from the project could also melt the snow in winter to make driving safer, as well as remotely charge electric cars. The solar motorway is thought to be the largest in the world after the first such road opened in a village in rural France in 2016.