(Yicai Global) Sept. 8 -- In its supplementary ruling regarding the interim review of anti-dumping and countervailing inquiries on Chinese photovoltaic products, the European Commission accepted some of the suggestions proposed by the Chinese government, industry organizations, enterprises and other related parties, and decided to further reduce minimum prices, Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing yesterday.

This a step in the right direction in aligning the minimum prices and quotas that the European Union sets for PV products imported from China with market prices, he said.

In its recently released supplementary ruling, the EU put forward a plan to lower the minimum prices for PV modules under investigation by more than 20 percent and decrease those for batteries by at least 10 percent in the next 12 months, per EC documents. The new limits will be applied to companies that are still governed by the price agreement and those that voluntarily pulled out of the agreement, but not to businesses that have been disqualified for non-compliance.

Photovoltaics are an emerging energy industry. China and the EU share the same objectives and stance on global climate change, Gao said. China hopes that the EU will stop imposing anti-dumping and countervailing measures on Chinese PV products as soon as possible, as this will create a more reliable and predictable business environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between Chinese and European groups and enable them to respond to climate change more effectively through joint efforts, he said.