China will take steps to defend its national interest if the EU were to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar panels and investigate wireless communications networks, said Zhong Shan, Chief International Trade Representative of China, on May 27 in Brussels.

Zhong led a government delegation to the EU headquarters to meet EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Jean Luc Demarty, Director General for Trade.

Zhong said the EU's anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation into Chinese solar panels and the looming action on wireless telecommunications networks would hurt the Chinese industries and workers concerned, and seriously sour the climate for bilateral trade and economic engagement.

Such practices of trade protectionism are not acceptable to China, and the amplification and escalation of trade disputes would serve neither party well, he said.

The European Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy estimates that more than 200,000 jobs will be lost as a direct consequence of the European Commission's punitive plans.

By the end of 2013, EU member states will vote to decide on the imposition of trade penalties.