Wen, Merkel suggest solar panel talk

BEIJING - Chinese and German leaders said on Thursday that China and Europe should try to resolve their current dispute over solar panel import duty through consultations and avoid anti-dumping proceedings.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and hold bilateral talks inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, August 30, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

"I suggest the European Commission and China try to solve the issue through communications, rather than by resorting to anti-dumping proceedings," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after co-chairing the second round of Chinese-German intergovernmental consultations in the morning.

"There is still time, so the best way is consultation," she said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao echoed Merkel's stance, saying consultation is an effective tool to work out trade disputes. "It is also an important outcome of today's intergovernmental consultations, which I think will be exemplary to the world," he added.

Germany's SolarWorld and other European solar panel makers last month filed a complaint seeking import tariffs on Chinese-made solar products. There would be a 45-day period before the EU's executive commission decides whether to start investigations.

China's solar products exports were valued at a total of $35.8 billion in 2011, with the EU receiving a share of more than 60 percent of the products, according to industry data.

China's Ministry of Commerce earlier called the dumping allegations groundless, saying protectionist measures will harm the European solar industry.