BEIJING, Sep. 18, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- China's Ministry of Commerce has organized industry experts to study possible anti-dumping investigations of its solar photovoltaic industry to be launched by the European Union and the United States.
It has been reported that SunPower from the US and Conergy and SolarWorld from Germany are lobbying local governments to open anti-dumping investigations, claiming subsidies and direct investment from Chinese government.
"Once EU and the United States claim Chinese enterprises dump solar PV products and levy anti-dumping tax on them, it will surely exert an significant influence on Chinese enterprises," said Wei Qidong, secretary-general of the solar PV industry association in East China's Jiangsu Province.
China now is the largest solar cell producer in the world with nine-tenth of its products exported to overseas market. In eastern China's Jiangsu Province alone, there are more than 80 solar cell makers including Suntech Power (STP.NYSE), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) (CSIQ.Nasdaq), Solarfun Power (NASDAQ:SOLF) (SOLF.Nasdaq), China Sunergy (NASDAQ:CSUN) (CSUN.Nasdaq) and Phone Solar Technology.
Wei said his association would establish an early warning system and organize solar PV businesses in China to take defensive measures in cases of anti-dumping attacks, in a bid to safeguard their overseas market for solar PV products.
Yu Ruozhen, of solar module exporter Phono Solar Technology, said, "Chinese solar cell and module makers have taken advantage of the low costs brought by the financial crisis and never practice dumping in overseas markets."
Yu said the company would certainly take defensive measures when something threatens its business. As China's sixth largest exporter of solar products, Phono Solar exports about 30 percent of its output or 200 million euros in value of solar modules to Germany each year.
Han Xiaoping, an expert with the energy website china5e.com, said that China's solar PV companies receive little or no subsidies and the dumping claims should not be accepted.
It has suggested that solar PV companies from Germany and the US improve their supply chain to strengthen their competitiveness rather than launch anti-dumping attacks.
The Chinese solar PV industry has developed rapidly in recent years and relies heavily on overseas markets, with more than 90 percent of products exported.
