Energy industry group calls for policy support

Chinese authorities need to release supportive policies to rescue domestic solar energy enterprises, which may be forced to flee out of the country because of EU's pending anti-dumping measures, a leader of a national industry organization which represents 500 energy enterprises told the Global Times Monday.

"Some enterprises are thinking about setting up plants in the EU and the US to avoid anti-dumping measures," said Zeng Shaojun, secretary-general of the China New Energy Chamber of Commerce (CNECC).

"In that condition, China's solar industry will gradually move out of the country, which will be a big loss to the domestic economy," Zeng noted.

After the EU accused China earlier this month of dumping solar panels in its market, both Chinese enterprises and government have made various efforts to ease the confrontation. But no final decision has been made so far.

"It is possible that some solar energy enterprises may transfer their plants to foreign countries to evade anti-dumpling action like high duties," Wang Zhixin, director of communications department at Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co, a leading solar panel firm in China, told the Global Times.

Over 80 percent of China's domestic solar energy enterprises stopped production and around 80 percent of their employees lost their jobs or suspended work after the US recently launched a similar case, said Liu Hanyuan, board chairman of Tongwei Group, a new energy company, last month.

He added that the consequences will be hard to contemplate if the EU, the largest importer, decides to impose anti-dumping measures.

The US announced a preliminary decision in May to impose anti-dumping duties of as much as 250 percent on solar products imported from China. The final determination is expected to be made in October.

Zeng said in the face of continuous anti-dumping action and unfair treatment overseas, Chinese authorities need to release policies to support domestic producers, which currently export most of their products, to turn to their home market.

"The local governments may subsidize the use of solar power in China to boost consumption of domestic photovoltaic (PV) products," Zeng noted.

Currently, solar power is used on a small scale domestically, mainly because the cost of solar power is much higher than that of other polluting energy sources. And the domestic solar PV industry is also suffering from the problem of overcapacity mainly caused by a pursuit of short-term gains.

China and the EU in Brussels signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase cooperation between the European Commission's competition department and China's antitrust authorities, according to a press release on EU's website Thursday.

"The MOU sends a positive signal for an intensified cooperation on competition matters between the EU and China," the press release said.