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China has warned the European Union that duties on Chinese solar panels would "seriously harm" bilateral trade.

The criticism comes after the EU said it would impose average import duties of 47 percent on solar panels from China, starting in June. EU officials say the move is designed to guard against the dumping of cheap goods in Europe.

But the spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, Shen Danyang, says "provoking trade friction with China" would be like "dropping a boulder on one’s own foot" and would not help Europe break free from economic crisis.