China demanded Thursday that Washington repeal steep tariffs on solar panels that China-based producers fear will shut their equipment out of the American market.

Tens of thousands of factory workers took part in a general strike across Indonesia on Wednesday, calling for higher wages, more social security and an end to employers' use of temporary contracts to circumvent the country's strict labour laws.

A tiny solar company named SoloPower will flip the switch on production at a US.= factory Thursday, a major step toward allowing it to tap a US$197 million government loan guarantee awarded under the same controversial program that supported failed panel maker Solyndra.

China has expressed its deep regret at the European Commission's decision to start its investigations, a statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said.

The Chinese government on Tuesday sent a delegation to Europe to negotiate with the European Union about the trade friction over solar panel imports.

The Hong Kong government calls it national education. But parents, teachers and pupils in the former British colony call it "brainwashing" and fear it's a ploy by Beijing authorities to indoctrinate the city's young into unquestioning support of China's Communist Party.

China's government has ruled that US government support to six American solar and wind power projects violates free trade rules, adding to strains between Beijing and its trading partners over renewable energy.

China's lighting suppliers producing light-emitting diodes (LED) and energy-saving products are expected to receive a huge subsidy, which experts said yesterday will speed up the industry's consolidation.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC), responding to last autumn's petitions by SolarWorld and other members of the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), announced preliminary duties of 2.9-4.73% on crystalline silicon solar PV cells to counter Chinese subsidies to its solar PV manufacturers.

Solar companies Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and Trina Solar Ltd said their first-quarter margins were squeezed as they set aside money to offset anti-dumping tariffs imposed by the US government on solar panel imports from China.

China-based solar panel manufacturers are making plans to source components from Taiwan in order to get around US anti-dumping tariffs of at least 31% announced by the Department of Commerce last week.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday in downtown Taipei to protest government policies ahead of the inauguration of recently re-elected Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. Participants said they were angry about Ma's economic policies, including his decision - announced after his January re-election - to raise utility prices.

The move, announced by the Commerce Department, is certain to infuriate Chinese officials already upset after recent bilateral frictions over China's human rights policies and its increasingly confrontational approach toward American allies like the Philippines and Japan.

The US yesterday imposed tariffs of as much as 250% on Chinese-made solar cells to aid domestic manufacturers beset by foreign competition, though critics said the decision may end up raising prices and hurting the US renewable energy industry.

SolarWorld said its Hillsboro, Oregon-based U.S. unit can't compete with Chinese exporters, including Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP), the world's largest solar-panel maker, and Trina Solar Ltd. unless tariffs are imposed. Suntech was told to pay 31.22%, Trina's levies were set at 31.14% and others were told to pay duties ranging from 31.18-249.96%.

The US solar-power industry has been nervously awaiting a federal decision on whether to impose antidumping tariffs on Chinese solar-panel makers.

The German Federal Council has determined that that the bill earlier adopted by the German Parliament for the reduction of solar subsidies will be going a the mediation committee, which will allow for the federal and state governments to negotiate finding a comprise.

Saudi Arabia is seeking investors for a $109 billion plan to create a solar industry that generates a third of the nation's electricity by 2032, according to officials at the agency developing the plan.

The Indian government has granted its 4G broadband spectrum to Qualcomm nearly two years after the US chipmaker paid US$1 billion in an auction.

The results in France and Greece came after a tumultuous few weeks in which the Dutch government fell and Britain's Conservative-led coalition received a licking in local elections.

More companies are being linked to the Indian government's plan to get one or more semiconductor wafer fabs constructed on the sub-continent. At least five chip companies have expressed an interest in supporting the project, according to a Hindu Business Line report.

The US government sued Apple and five publishers, saying they conspired to fix the prices of electronic books, and reached a settlement with three of the publishers that could lead to cheaper e-books for consumers.

Germany's parliament approved record cuts in aid for solar power, aiming to reduce the annual pace of installations by half in the world's biggest market for the industry.

The solar industry in the U.S. has been holding its breath over a much-delayed review by the Commerce Department over allegedly unfair trade practices by Chinese solar panel makers.

Installations of solar panels will continue to increase strongly in Germany in the first six months of the year, government and industry sources told Reuters, dealing a blow to efforts by the ruling coalition to get the market under control.

China's premier warned that growth will slow this year in the world's second-largest economy as the government seeks to overhaul the country's "unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable" development model.

US retail sales rose in January, but were dragged down by an unexpected decline in auto sales, according to government data released Tuesday. Overall retail sales were up 0.4% compared to December.