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As the reports on the European Commission’s stance against Chinese manufacturers picks up pace, the head of the Chinese Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports and Exports told reporters that the anti-dumping petition Germany-based SolarWorld has brought to the European Commission is unfounded. The Ministry of Commerce in China states that, “It is not the dumping, as claimed by some EU companies.”
With a feeling of déjà vu filling the air, the head of the Bureau asserted that production cost has been brought down, not because of dumping, but because of the Chinese government’s investment in its domestic PV industry. The government claims it attaches a great deal of importance to technology advancement and large-scale production.
MOFCOM stated: "Price of polysilicon imports, the major raw material for PV cells keeps going down, from the highest of nearly US$300/kg in 2008 to less than US$30/kg at present, which brings about a down-going price of PV cells."
The Bureau also discussed the interdependency of China upon the EU and vice versa. China imports the bulk of its raw materials, equipments and production technologies from the EU and the US. The Bureau claims the development of China’s PV industry has not only driven the export of EU raw materials and high-level equipment, but also created many jobs for EU downstream industries such as the installation of PV power generation equipments. The Bureau insists that any restrictive measures against China’s PV cells would harm the interests of the EU industry.
The head stressed that, “The PV industries of the two sides should solve divergences through consultation and cooperation and together maintain the stable and healthy environment for the industry’s development. As world economy recovers slowly and global economic development has unstable and uncertain elements, a stable and free trade environment is the guarantee for the common development of China and EU PV industries.
“We hope the PV industries of the two sides can solve the divergences through consultation, seek win-win paths through cooperation, and together safeguard the sound development environment for the industry.”
In July, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) expressed its disappointment in China’s decision to initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations against US polysilicon imported into China from the United States, in retaliation to the US’s decision earlier this year and called for coordination between the two nations.
If the European Commission proceeds with SolarWorld’s petition, expect déjà vu to be the order of the day.
