China, EU seek trade dispute settlement

BEIJING - China and the European Union (EU) will hold a meeting later this week to discuss problems concerning trade and economic cooperation between the two sides, a Chinese ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

The current photovoltaic (PV) trade dispute between the two sides is among the issues to be addressed during the dialogues, which are set to take place on Friday, said Shen Danyang, Ministry of Commerce spokesman.

Earlier this month, the EU imposed an interim anti-dumping duty of 11.8 percent on imports of all Chinese solar panel products, including panels, cells and wafers. If both sides fail to come to an agreement, the duty will be raised to an average of 47.6 percent two months after it went into effect.

Since the EU's preliminary ruling, the Chinese government and PV enterprises have kept close contact with the European Commission on "price undertaking" talks, which are currently progressing in a positive manner, the spokesman said.

Shen said the two sides should proceed from the general situation of maintaining China-EU cooperation and take pragmatic attitudes.

He added that China and the EU should cherish this opportunity to unite their efforts toward reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.