The solar-panel ball is in the EU's court

Several EU nations, including Germany, have spoken out against imposing special duties and urged the commission to reach a settlement with China. "The German government explicitly rejects the preliminary anti-dumping measures planned by the European Commission," German Economy Minister Philipp Rosler repeated on Tuesday. "We believe this step would be a serious mistake."

Altogether 18 EU member states voted against the provisional tariff just one week before the commission's decision, fearing that higher cost of solar panels will lead to a slowdown in the deployment of the technology and job losses across the industry.

All these seem to be not enough to stop the commission from introducing the duties. China's efforts and its long-standing contribution to help the European economy recover from the dire effects of the crisis have also been overlooked. At the end of May, China sent a delegation to EU for consultations. This goodwill was not reciprocated. The day before the commission's decision, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang spoke to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso by telephone, expressing China's willingness to communicate with the EU on relevant issues under the existing bilateral trade mechanism to find a solution acceptable to both sides, so as to jointly promote the continuous development of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

On June 5, China decided to begin an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into wines imported from the European Union. Now many fear that more is yet to come.

An all-out trade war might be a worst-case scenario. But is the ball now in China's court? As the Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said, the Chinese side has already fully expressed its views, made the ultimate efforts it can and displayed sincerity. Will there be a deal to avoid an escalation of trade friction? It's entirely up to the EU.

The author is a Beijing-based scholar of international relations.