EU closes China solar probe as firms withdraw Romania bids

The European Union said Monday that it will close probes into bids by Chinese firms for a Romanian solar park because the companies are pulling out of the tender.

The potential bidders — including a German unit of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd., the world’s second-most valuable solar firm — all signaled late that they will withdraw, according to a statement from EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton. The others are Shanghai Electric UK Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Electric Hong Kong International Engineering Co. Ltd. 

The investigations relate to a 110 megawatt solar park in Romania that is partially financed through the EU. They were launched last month using the bloc’s foreign subsidies regulation, a new tool aimed at preventing state-funded companies from abusing their financial muscle to fend off EU rivals.

It’s be the second time that Chinese companies have withdrawn from a tender after officials opened an inquiry under the subsidy regulation. The European Commission said in March that a Chinese company had abandoned a bid to supply trains to Bulgaria.

LONGi confirmed that it pulled out of the procurement, saying in a statement that it’s commited to working with its partners across Europe to help the bloc meets its climate goals.

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said in a statement that it remains concerned about what it called the European Commission’s “selective” information disclosure under the subsidy tool.

The chamber accused the EU’s executive arm of selective enforcement against Chinese companies, saying that the Romanian photo-voltaic park construction bid included other non-EU entities participating in the same bidding process that weren’t investigated to a similar extent.