China has said it will finish its inquiry into alleged wine dumping by France, Spain and Italy, according to EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht. The announcement came after a deal was made between Brussels and Beijing to end a dispute on the low cost of Chinese solar panel imports into the EU. The two countries have agreed a minimum price for the panels. Other areas under dispute - including Chinese-made telecom equipment - could be swept into the agreement.

Tensions increasing

However, tensions are already appearing. Yao Fengwen, a lawyer with the Bo Heng law firm, represents a Chinese wine industry association, and he said that China is continuing with its investigation of European dumping. He said: 'The relevant investigation is still proceeding regularly,', according to Euractiv.com. Meanwhile, EU ProSun, a European solar panel association of manufacturers, objects to the new Chinese-EU agreement and is threatening to take a case to the European Court of Justice. Its president, Milan Nitzschke, told Energy Live News: 'The agreement between the European Commission and China is contrary in every respect to European law. The agreement endangers the very existence of the European solar industry, which has already lost 15,000 jobs due to Chinese dumping and illegal Chinese state subsidies and now is at risk of losing remaining producers in Europe.'