Reports suggest Beijing wants tariffs lifted on exports up to 10GW, while pledging to keep prices above €0.50 per watt
China is set to limit the amount of solar panels it exports to the EU in a bid to avoid anti-dumping duties, according to local media reports.
The Shanghai Securities News reported that no more than 10GW a year will be sold to the EU, about half of China's total production, in response to the imposition of 11.8 per cent tariffs on panels from more than 100 Chinese solar companies.
The levies are set to quadruple to 47.6 per cent should Brussels and Beijing fail to resolve their dispute by August - a scenario that experts fear would deal a blow to both Chinese manufacturers and European solar installers and developers.
China will ask that the EU remove duties on panels sold within the 10GW limit and will in turn pledge to keep prices at or above €0.50 a watt, the newspaper said, citing comments from Wang Sicheng, a researcher at the Energy Research Institute, an adviser to the government.
The move would appear to be a conciliatory one after the sabre-rattling that ensued after EU ProSun, an alliance of European manufacturers led by Germany's Solarworld, first alleged Chinese rivals were benefiting from unfair subsidies that allowed them to sell panels into Europe at below cost price.
Over 20 EU manufacturers went bust last year, with EU ProSun blaming cheap Chinese imports for imposing unfair pressure on European manufacturers. Among those to run into financial difficulties were industry giant Q-Cells, which was later bought by Hanwha, and Conergy which filed for bankruptcy last week.
An EU probe into Chinese solar policies sparked retaliatory investigations from Beijing, raising the prospect of a trade war as Chinese officials hinted that targeted levies could be imposed on strategic European industries such as wine.
However, trade talks in the last few days seem to have heralded a rapprochement and sources close to the deal expect an agreement before the August deadline. "We remain highly optimistic about the direction we are moving in," Sun Guangbin, head of a government-industry association representing Chinese solar companies in the discussions, told news agency Reuters on Friday.
However, sticking points in the negotiations remain. The proposed €0.50 price is still 80 per cent that of EU prices, while the 10GW quota level, the rate at which levies are imposed on goods sold over that quota, and how many years the quota may be in force for are all still up for discussion.
