China's commerce ministry on Friday expressed serious concerns over a petition filed by a U.S. solar firm seeking a trade authority's investigation into protective measures on global solar products.

The U.S.-based Suniva Inc. on April 26 initiated a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), demanding a global safeguard investigation on solar cells and modules, according to the USITC.

The domestic solar industry in the United States has already enjoyed trade relief measures as U.S. trade authorities have continued to launch anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations on foreign solar products in recent years, said the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Therefore, launching another safeguard investigation would be an abuse of trade remedy measures and overprotection of the domestic solar industry, and would disrupt the development of the global solar industry chain, said the MOC.

Rather than damaging the U.S. solar industry, solar product imports have been a boost to its development and job creation, said the ministry.

In 2016, a total of 14.76 gigawatts of installed solar capacity were added to the U.S. market, almost doubling the 2015 level, while the solar industry hired 25 percent more people than a year ago.

The MOC stressed that the solar industry is closely related to global sustainable development, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the global climate.

China hopes the USITC will make a comprehensive assessment and come to the right decision, as safeguarding free trade in the solar industry is a common obligation and in the common interests of all countries, the ministry said.

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