"The biggest loser in the solar dispute would be the EU instead of China because it would cut more jobs than the EU expects and increase the cost of power generation in the EU," Meng Xian'gan, vice president of the China Solar Energy Society, told the Global Times Thursday.
The EU announced in November an investigation into alleged State subsidies for Chinese solar panel manufacturers, following its decision in September to launch an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese solar panel imports.
China exported solar panels worth $20.4 billion to the EU in 2011, accounting for about 60 percent of China's total solar panel exports, according to data from the European Commission.
In a report for the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy published Tuesday, European think tank Prognos said that if the EU imposes tariffs on solar panels from China, thousands of solar industry jobs could be lost in the UK and elsewhere in the EU.
In the UK, which sources the majority of its solar panels from China, the duties could result in extra costs of 3.46 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) and cut 38,600 jobs over a three-year period, and 242,000 jobs could be lost across Europe, the report said.
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