China 's Commerce Ministry said Tuesday that it will review a broad range of business issues with the European Union this week, including a potentially disruptive dispute over solar panels.

The issues will be raised at the annual ministerial-level meeting of the joint economic and trade commission in the Chinese capital Friday amid escalating trade tensions.

"At this conference, the two sides will seriously review what happened over the past year in terms of trade and business relations, and consider ways of resolving these problems, including the dispute over trade in photovoltaic panels," Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters.

China 's Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will jointly chair the talks, Mr. Shen said.

Alleging unfair pricing, the European Commission imposed an initial average tariff of 11.8% on Chinese solar panels this month, which will rise to 47.6% on Aug. 6 if an agreement isn't reached by then.

Following the move, Beijing announced an antidumping probe of European wine, which could eventually lead to a substantial increase in import duties.

The EU has also filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over Chinese antidumping duties on EU-made stainless steel tubes.

Since the European Commission made its initial decision on Chinese-made solar panels, the two sides have maintained close contacts and negotiations are moving ahead in a positive direction, Mr. Shen said.

Solar panels and related equipment make up a sizable slice of China 's exports to the EU. At their peak in 2011, they accounted for 7% of all Chinese sales to that market.

Total trade between the two sides in the first five months of this year fell 2.8%, Chinese customs data showed.

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