Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-06-22
A worker inspects a solar panel that will be shipped to Europe. (Photo/CFP) |
China and
the EU both hope to solve an ongoing trade dispute involving photovoltaic
products through price undertaking talks, China's commerce minister Gao Hucheng
said on Friday.
Gao made
the remarks at a press conference following a session of the China-EU Trade and
Economic Joint Committee held on the same day. Issues concerning bilateral
trade and economic cooperation were discussed at the meeting, including the PV
issue, according to Gao.
"Both
sides are sincerely engaged in working towards an amicable solution," EU
trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said at the press conference.
Earlier
this month, the EU imposed an interim anti-dumping duty of 11.8% on imports of
all Chinese solar panel products, including panels, cells and wafers. The duty
may be raised to an average of 47.6% two months after going into effect if both
sides fail to come to an agreement.
Gao said
China and the EU have been in close communication regarding issues related to
the PV trade dispute. Technical-level discussions have been positive and
constructive, he added.
Gao said he
hopes both sides can adopt a pragmatic and flexible approach and strengthen
coordination and collaboration in order to arrive at a balanced, reasonable and
mutually acceptable price undertaking deal.
"It's
early in the negotiation process and this kind of issue is rarely solved
overnight," De Gucht warned.
Since the
EU's preliminary ruling, the Chinese government and PV enterprises have kept
close contact with the European Commission regarding price undertaking talks.
Beijing has
urged the EU to keep overall China-EU cooperation in mind and take a pragmatic
attitude.
Apart from
trade remedies, the two sides also discussed a wide range of topics at the
annual meeting, including a possible bilateral investment treaty, trade in
goods, trade in service and intellectual property protection.
Gao said
both sides have agreed to deepen information exchanges in order to open
negotiations for the bilateral investment treaty as soon as possible.
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