China's solar panel exporters are fearing tougher times as the European Union moves closer to imposing punitive duties on Chinese exports.

"The punitive duties are surely unavoidable and the key is the rate of the duties," said Zhang Bin, a senior sales executive of King-PV Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Qunsheng Group in Zhejiang province.

"If the duties are between 18 percent and 20 percent, the impact won't be severe. But higher duties will deprive us of competitive edge over our European Union peers."