Former Executive of a Chinese Photovoltaic Company Freed After Detainment at Munich Airport

Visual China

BEIJING, June 13 (TiPost) – Following the landing of Flight LH727 from Shanghai at Munich Airport in Germany at approximately 7:00 a.m. on Monday, Pu Yonghua, the former director and deputy general manager of Jiangsu Runda PV Co., Ltd. (832391.NQ:), was detained by four local police officers.

According to an individual who was also on the flight, it was suspected that Pu’s detainment was in connection to the circumvention of the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures imposed by the EU. After the EU issued the order in 2012, Runda Solar allegedly began exporting its products to a subsidiary company in Switzerland before subsequently exporting them to the EU.

The China Photovoltaic Industry Association released a statement on its WeChat account early Wednesday, clarifying that Pu was merely assisting with the investigation and had since been released. Liu Yiyang, the deputy secretary-general of the association, said that the incident should not be blown out of proportion, as it pertains to an isolated case rather than the entire photovoltaic industry. Moreover, he emphasized that it does not impact the regular Sino-European photovoltaic trade.

 Pu, 47, has been distanced himself from Runda Solar for quite some time. He had planned to attend the Intersolar Europe Munich 2023, which is scheduled to take place from June 14 to 16.

The incident has caused significant concerns within the Chinese PV industry, indicating that the EU’s “anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures” targeting Chinese PV products is still relevant . In 2012, the EU initiated anti-dumping investigations targeting Chinese PV products. Subsequently, through several rounds of negotiations, China and the EU reached a pricing agreement in August 2013. This agreement allows Chinese companies to sell solar products to Europe if prices exceed the pre-agreed floor, with annual sales being subject to specific quotas. Transactions outside the agreement are subjected to a hefty tariff of 47.6%.

According to Xinhua, at that time, numerous Chinese PV enterprises reached an agreement to establish a minimum price threshold for PV products exported to the EU. These enterprises’ exports to Europe constituted approximately 70% of China’s total PV exports to the region. To prevent the manipulation of market prices, both China and the EU chose not to disclose specific figures regarding the minimum price and annual export limits.

In an attempt to bypass the order, some companies resorted to exporting their products to third countries before redirecting them to the EU. However, this practice may “violate the relevant regulations of the EU,” as stated by the aforementioned source.

In August 2018, the European Commission issued a statement on the termination of the anti-dumping measures imposed on Chinese solar photovoltaic cells and modules from 2013.

Despite the EU’s decision to abolish the anti-dumping measures, there have been aftermath of the measures. In May 2019, during the Intersolar Europe Munich, executives from at least two Chinese PV companies were detained. The allegations against them involved commercial smuggling of solar modules and circumvention of a price commitment agreement that was in place before September 2018, according to the source.

Following the arrest in May 2019, Pu refrained from visiting Europe for four years, as mentioned by the source.

Runda Solar’s stock closed at .51 yuan per share on Monday, marking a decline of 3.04%.

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