Friday, 22/11/2024 | 15:52 GMT+7
China's measures to develop wind energy will help to save
energy, reduce emissions and protect the environment and are in line with the
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday
in response to a US complaint against China's subsidy for the wind-power
sector.
The United States on Wednesday accused China of illegally
subsidizing the production of wind-power equipment and asked for talks at the
WTO, the first step towards filing a trade case.
China will closely monitor the WTO's decision on the complaint, study the requests for talks and handle it in accordance with WTO regulations, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
The action arises out of an investigation initiated by the
US Trade Representative in response to a petition filed by the United
Steelworkers of the US.
The union filed a petition in September, accusing China of a
long list of subsidies and other policies to favor the production of domestic
clean-energy technologies at the expense of the US and other countries.
China will become the largest wind-power market in the world
(in terms of installed capacity) by the end of this year, according to the
National Energy Administration. The market is growing at 116 percent
year-on-year in China, compared with 40 percent in the US, according to the
Global Wind Energy Council.
The annual Central Economic Conference held in Beijing
earlier this month released its draft version of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)
for the power industry. That includes new wind capacity targets of 100
gigawatts (GW) by 2015, and 180 GW by 2020.
The lure of what will soon be the world's largest wind
market has prompted General Electric Co (GE) and Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the
world's biggest maker of wind turbines, to invest in manufacturing in China.
Vestas has its largest integrated manufacturing complex in
Tianjin and a second factory at Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region,
according to the company's website. GE formed a joint venture in China in
September with Harbin Electric Machinery Co to make and supply turbines for the
Chinese market.
Despite the disputes, Chinese wind-industry players are
seeking their own ways to expand abroad as well. China Longyuan Power Group,
Asia's largest wind-farm developer by market value, said recently that it plans
to invest 3 billion yuan ($451 million) in overseas expansion next year, with
three wind projects in the US already under negotiation.
Jie Changjun, general manager of Longyuan Power Group, said the scale of the projects will range from 300 to 1,000 megawatts.
chinadaily.com.cn