Wishing to discuss a brewing fight over solar panels, China’s ministry of commerce on Sunday made a request for a meeting with Karel De Gucht, the EU trade commissioner,
To judge by its brevity and acrimonious tone, the following day’s gathering appears to have been less an effort at peace talks than an opportunity for the Chinese to savour a victory at close range.
By the time Mr De Gucht’s visitors arrived in his office, it had become clear that Beijing had rallied a majority of the EU’s member states against the commissioner’s proposal to impose provisional duties on Chinese-made solar products for dumping, or selling goods below cost.