US solar cell spotlight on ministry

By Du Juan and Ding Qingfen

SHENZHEN - The Ministry of Commerce will be asked, by domestic manufacturers, to launch a dumping and subsidy investigation into sales of US solar cells in China.

Gao Hongling, deputy secretary-general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, told China Daily on Sunday that the alliance is finalizing a complaint alleging that US manufacturers are selling their products at prices below cost in China.

"The report will be sent to the Ministry of Commerce soon," she said.

Gao added that the alliance is also preparing another petition for the ministry regarding an investigation into subsidies allegedly received by US manufacturers.

The ministry declined to make any comment on the issue on Sunday.

The move is apparently in response to the US anti-dumping investigation into the export practices of Chinese solar cell manufacturers.

SolarWorld AG, and several other US-based solar cell companies, filed a petition in October with the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, alleging that Chinese companies sold solar panels below cost in the US market.

The complaint identifies 200 subsidies that the government allegedly provides to the solar industry - including cut-rate raw materials such as aluminum and polysilicon, tax exemptions, massive below-market loans and discounts on land, power and water.

The US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission officially opened the year-long investigation in November.

Polysilicon is a vital component of solar cells and Gao believes that foreign companies have slashed prices of this key product to force Chinese companies out of business.

"Foreign companies lowered polysilicon prices greatly in recent years and this has forced many Chinese polysilicon producers to go bankrupt," she said.

According to the alliance, many Chinese polysilicon factories stopped or reduced production in the third quarter and more than 2,000 people in the industry lost their jobs in one province alone.

Foreign countries, led by the United States, dumped 47,500 tons of polysilicon in China in 2010, 20,000 tons more than the previous year, according to statistics from the alliance.