China will continue to impose anti-dumping duties on imported solar-grade polysilicon originating from the United States and South Korea for another five years, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The anti-dumping duty rates, effective on Wednesday, are set from between 53.3 percent to 57 percent for US companies and between 4.4 percent and 113.8 percent for South Korean companies, the ministry said in a statement.

Solar-grade polysilicon is an essential raw material for manufacturing solar cells used in photovoltaic panels.

China originally imposed anti-dumping duties on solar-grade polysilicon imports from the US and South Korea in 2014 for a five-year period. Following a five-year extension in 2020, these duties have now been extended again, as noted in the Tuesday's announcement.

Also on Tuesday, the ministry said in a separate statement that China will also continue to impose countervailing duties on imports of solar-grade polysilicon from the US for a period of five years. Effective on Wednesday, the duty rates for US companies range from 0 percent to 2.1 percent.

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn