BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) will negotiate with the US side over its probe into Chinese exports of wind towers through association channels, Vice-Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei said on Wednesday.

The US Commerce Department announced on January 19 that it was to launch anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into wind towers from China and Vietnam. It was another US probe into China's clean energy exports after a similar one covering solar panels.

"Wind power products from China have a competitive edge in the international market, and the United States has taken some protectionism measures against these products," Jiang said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

"We have taken notice of the sanctions," the vice-minister added.

"The act will not only hamper bilateral cooperation in the field of new energy and harm the interests of US industries, but also go against global efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change and energy security," the MOC said in a statement in January in response to the probe.

The merchandise covered by the investigation is steel towers that support the engine and rotor blades for use in wind turbines with electrical power generation capacities in excess of 100 kw, according to the MOC.

The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation came after the US Wind Tower Trade Coalition filed petitions in December 2011, accusing government-subsidized Chinese companies of dumping products in the US market.

Statistics showed that China exported more than $200 million worth of wind towers in 2008, but the figure dropped to about 100 million in 2010.