China starts anti-dumping probe against European wines

Participants taste Italian Chianti Classico wine at a food expo in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, June 4, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Monday formally launched an investigation into whether the European Union is subsidising and dumping wine in the Chinese market, potentially increasing its leverage in a dispute with the EU over solar panel imports.

The Chinese government had initially targeted the European wines favoured by its growing middle class hours after the European Commission, the EU's executive body, levied in June punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panels.