Producers see red over 'wine subsidies'_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Producers see red over 'wine subsidies'

European wine producers increased their share of the Chinese market to 14.32 percent last year, from 4.94 percent in 2008.

"Almost all of the domestic wine companies said their businesses have been hit hard," Wang said.

During the first quarter, wine imports from the EU, mainly from France, Spain and Italy, surged by 24 percent from a year earlier.

A source from the Ministry of Commerce told China Daily, on condition of anonymity, that the government will probably start an investigation "very soon".

"China has the capacity to fight back if the EU launches an investigation into China's solar products," Zhou Shijian, a senior trade expert at Tsinghua University, said.

"Such an investigation will do more harm than good to the EU," he said, without elaborating.

The United States and the EU have been aggressive in launching trade probes into Chinese goods amid the global financial crisis but China is learning to fight back, Zhou said. "China is getting wiser and more mature in protecting its own commercial interests under the World Trade Organization framework."

US solar power manufacturers, including SolarWorld USA, accused Chinese solar companies last year of selling panels in the US market at prices that were far below what US-made panels could be sold for. In May, the US announced anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar makers ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent.