BEIJING -- 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 delegation, led by Chong Quan, deputy representative for China's international trade talks, will make representations with government departments of Germany and France, as well as the European Commission.

The delegation will outline the Chinese position over the EU's decision to launch an anti-dumping investigation into imports of solar panels and key components from China, according to a statement by the Ministry of Commerce.

China has maintained its position to resolve the China-EU trade friction through consultation and cooperation, said the statement.

"We hope the EU adopt a cautious attitude when resorting to trade protection measures, and create conditions for cooperation and common development of the industry between both sides," the statement said.

The EU announced last week it would launch a 15-month investigation into imports of solar panels and key components from China and may impose provisional anti-dumping duties within nine months.

Shortly after the EU announcement, the MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said China "deeply regretted" the EU decision, and said restricting China's solar panel products will hurt the interests of both sides and undermine the healthy development of the global solar and clean energy sector.

China has urged the EU to scrap existing protectionist measures and not to introduce new protectionist trade and investment policies before 2014.

China exported around 21 billion euros ($26.99 billion) worth of solar panels and their key components to the EU in 2011, according to EU statistics.