China will launch an investigation as early as Friday to determine whether to impose duties on polysilicon imports from the US and South Korea, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced Wednesday.

The decision followed the US Commerce Department announcement on May 17 to implement preliminary antidumping duties on the import of solar panels made with Chinese cells, ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent, depending on the manufacturer.

The ministry will formally announce the launch of an investigation into polysilicon imports from the US and South Korea and release details of the case Friday, Huang Minghai, director of MOFCOM's press office, told the Global Times Wednesday.

Huang did not specify what kind of investigations the ministry would conduct into US-made and South Korean-made polysilicon, a key ingredient used to make solar panels.

MOFCOM has confirmed its launch of antidumping and countervailing investigations into polysilicon imports from the US and also an antidumping investigation into polysilicon products from South Korea, the 21st Century Business Herald reported Wednesday, citing unnamed multiple sources.

Domestic polysilicon makers including GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, LDK Solar, and Daqo New Energy Corp filed the petition with MOFCOM in March and had been asked to submit complete data to support their petition, the report said.

GCL-Poly was waiting for the announcement of the investigation and was unable to comment at this stage, Janette Lam, a public relations staff member for GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, told the Global Times.

LDK Solar and Daqo New Energy Corp could not be reached for comment.

In an e-mail sent to the Global Times, Nolan Barkhouse, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing, said the US had received notice from the Chinese government regarding the upcoming anti-dumping and countervailing probe into US-made polysilicon.