China begins investigation into EU’s investment barrier for solar PV

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
China’s commerce ministry will use questionnaires, hearings and field investigations in the process. Credit: Glyn Lowe via Flickr.

China’s commerce ministry started conducting a trade and investment barrier investigation on 10 July 2024 on the measures used in the European Union’s (EU) Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FAR).

The investigation, prompted by a request from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, will concentrate on four main product categories, including solar PV and wind power, in addition to railway locomotives and security inspection equipment.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The investigation will finish by 10 January 2025, and will extend to 10 April 2025 under special circumstances.

The EU launched the FAR in July 2023, which enables the European Commission to address distortions caused by foreign subsidies and allows the EU to “ensure a level playing field for all companies operating in the single market” while remaining open to trade and investment. However, Europe still imported around 33GW of solar PV modules from China in the first four months of 2024, representing 43% of total Chinese module exports, according to US energy analyst Clean Energy Associates (CEA).

The import statistics for Europe sit alongside CEA’s observation that “European PV supply is shrinking as many long-standing suppliers closed production or filed bankruptcy due to failure to compete with imports.”

Other measures adopted by the EU included the forced labour ban in April 2024, which prohibited the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour.

On the other hand, the EU also implemented measures to safeguard Europe’s solar manufacturing industry. The Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) came into force on 29 June 2024 for all 27 member states. After that, member states of the EU can apply the NZIA provisions in public procurement, auctions and other forms of public intervention. The NZIA states that the EU’s annual capacity for the production of net zero products, such as solar panels, should meet at least 40% of the bloc’s annual deployment needs by 2030.

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

June 10, 2025
Australia’s Queensland government has confirmed an AU$2.4 billion investment in the CopperString transmission project, aiming to extend the National Electricity Market (NEM) to the North West Minerals Province.
Premium
June 9, 2025
N-type polysilicon prices have dropped to RMB34,000/ton as the project installation rush ends, putting cost pressure on the industrial chain.
June 9, 2025
Sonnedix has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Renfe to supply 420GWh of renewable energy annually for its commercial operations.
June 9, 2025
Saatvik Solar, a unit of Saatvik Green Energy Limited (SGEL), is building a 4.8GW solar cell and 4GW module manufacturing facility in Ganjam district of Odisha.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece