China and the EU are trying to solve the solar panel case in an amicable way, said EU Trade Chief Karel De Gucht after the 27th EU-China Joint Committee on Friday.

China's Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht held talks at the annual meeting of the joint economic and trade commission, with topics centering on an investment agreement which would allow for more market access.

The trade chief explained that although the solar panel issue has not been part of this meeting, as it is not part of the Joint Committee's agenda, both sides have engaged in sincere ways to work towards an amicable solution.

He mentioned that technical-level discussions toward a negotiated settlement begun in Brussels at the start of this week and continue now in Beijing.

"This kind of issue is rarely solved overnight," he said. "Everyone should be very careful not to jump to any conclusions -- one way or the other -- simply because there is no hard news on this issue today."

This month, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, slapped an 11.8 percent interim tariff on solar panel imports from China. This tariff will be lifted up to 47.6 percent if the two parties fail to reach an agreement before August 6.

The tariff is provisional for six months and EU member states will vote on whether to make it permanent in December of this year.

It is the largest trade case the Commission has launched, with China selling about US$21.5 billion worth of solar panels to the bloc and importing US$7.5 billion worth of European solar equipment and raw materials.

The world's largest trade partners have engaged in a spate of trade rows this year as China launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidiary investigation of European wines after the EU imposed anti-dumping duties on its solar panels.

According to the figures provided by China's customs, China imported 430 million liters of wines in 2012, 67.6 percent of which stemmed from the EU.

Commenting on China's move on the bloc's wine products, De Gucht said China can launch an investigation according to WTO regulations.

He said he had talked with French and Italian ministers and both believed their wines have nothing to do with dumping. "It is their [China's) decision to do so or not," he concluded.

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