China's photovoltaic industry under pressure - SolarStar

China""s photovoltaic (PV  ) industry has suffered much this year due to ongoing restrictions and investigations initiated by the United States and the European Union, a spokesman for China""s Ministry of Commerce said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

"Our solar products were investigated by the EU, the U.S. and several other countries for anti-dumping  and countervailing duties, which led many enterprises to suspend production and even close down," Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang told reporters.

On May 17 of this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed anti-dumping tariffs of just over 31 percent on PV products from major Chinese producers, after determining that exporters sold their products in the U.S. at a "less than fair value." Later, the European Union officially launched its anti-dumping and anti-countervailing investigations of China photovoltaic solar products ranging from crystalline silicon PV modules, batteries and silicon on Sept. 6 and Nov. 8 respectively.

"We have paid heavy attention to it, and I want to restate again, our position never changed," Shen said. "Relevant industry organizations and involved enterprises are going to fight the charges when the anti-dumping cases went into legal process. We are open to dialogue and negotiations and are willing to collaborate with certain countries to resolve the conflicts. We are putting our eyes on the investigations and verdict and will reserve the right to go further under the framework [of] WTO rules.

Shen said China has faced 53 trade remedy investigations involving US$24.2 billion worth of products in 2012, 7 times the amount investigated last year. The trade friction is currently one of the leading problems for China""s exports, he said.

As the world economy continues to slump, overseas demand is insufficient, Shen said. Secondly, as domestic costs grow, China""s traditional advantage is reduced.

"Growth in imports is consistently lower than growth in exports, as well as the fact that trade surplus and international payment surplus are expanding, and the RMB exchange rate is appreciating faster ― all creates new pressure for exports, not to mention the trade friction and increased risks," he said.

However, Shen said overall outlook for China""s foreign trade is good in three aspects: "We have a stable 7.3 percent to 7.4 percent growth rate when the whole world""s foreign trade [growth] has almost stopped. At the same time, we are improving foreign trade approaches and structure, from just amount increase to a complex competitiveness involving technologies, brands, quality and services. Many companies set up sales and services networks in foreign countries. "

Shen is optimistic about China""s use of foreign investment. "I don""t think foreign investment in China will decrease dramatically in the next year because China""s economic prospects are good; although, there are some problems and cost increase issues. Actually we have learned many multinational corporations will not shrink their scale of business in China. China surpassed the United States some time in last half year to become the number one country [for foreign investment]," he said.

Shen also said China""s enterprises expanded very fast in the United States. "China""s investment flow in the United States is US$1.811 billion last year, 38.5 percent more than the same period in a year before. Now our total investment in the United States is nearly US$9 billion. China""s investors have set up 1,700 direct investment enterprises and hired 140,000 employees. This year, China""s direct investment in the U.S. has hit US$1.1 billion between January and November, a 13 percent increase."

"However, some enterprises encountered some problems, such as America""s national security censorship," he added. "We have been opposing any kind of interference by using national security as an excuse; this is discrimination. We hope the U.S. can consider China enterprises"" investments sensibly and without prejudice, avoiding political factors."

In response to the recent downturn in China""s photovoltaic industry  , Shen said the government is doing research and drafting policies to give the sector added support.

"We are doing four things: first, helping China""s enterprises tackle foreign countries"" anti-dumping and countervailing investigations; second, helping them expand to new markets in the world and maintain reasonable shares in the international market; third, acting to regulate the PV industry""s exports and imports; fourth, promoting and strengthening the Chinese PV industry""s international cooperation with European and American PV [counterparts]."