Anti-dumping penalty to hurt EU economy

However, industry insiders like Nowotny believe it is important for the industry to continue with its lobbying. Nowotny is a member of the board of directors at the European Solar Industry Association, while Suntech is the only Chinese company to have ever got such a distinction.

Emde is active in the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy, an association incorporated in Germany. Emde serves as its vice-president and has been handling policy and media activities.

Emde says Suntech has been the driving force in setting this up with the help of many European partners and has also taken the lead in choosing the lobbyists and media advisers. The Suntech-backed alliance had been set up well before the lawsuit was filed in Brussels, and the rival alliance called "EuProSun" was formed.

However, many Chinese solar companies had earlier indicated that they were not comfortable with the idea of forming an association and collectively addressing the problems with Brussels as they are competing with one another.

This is in sharp contrast to the European companies in China, which despite having different working groups operate under the common umbrella of the European business chamber in Beijing so that they can effectively lobby the Chinese government.

JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd, a young but rapidly developing Chinese solar company, says the anti-dumping allegations are both unfair and unfounded, and do not reflect the reality of the highly competitive global solar industry. The company believes that trade protectionism will harm fair competition in the market, hinder industry development and prove detrimental for PV consumers.

Dany Qian, global brand director of JinkoSolar, says many European countries, such as Italy, Germany and France, have been ardent supporters of the solar industry. "Even though our relative share in Europe has come down, our volume has increased, and Europe is still the most important and largest market for us at the current stage," says Qian.

Despite the anti-dumping investigation, Qian is confident about the long-term potential of the industry. She says the newly added capacity of PV installations in 2012 was roughly 31 gW, and may double by the end of 2016 with an expected growth of 15-25 percent annually.

"The biggest challenges for the entire industry are oversupply and the global economic downturn, which will probably last for another one or two years," Qian says.

Contact the writers through fujing@chinadaily.com.cn.

Liu Jia contributed to this story.