The Chinese Commerce Ministry said it restarted talks with the European Union regarding a minimum price plan for China-made electric cars and will continue next week.

"China welcomes the EU's resumption of price undertaking consultations and appreciates the EU's return to the track of resolving differences through dialogue," Commerce Ministry Spokesperson He Yadong said during a Thursday news briefing.

The ministry also called on the 27-nation bloc to not conduct separate negotiations with Chinese manufacturers, saying "it will not be conducive to maintaining mutual trust, nor will it be beneficial to the overall efficiency of the process."

The EU approved duties of up to 45.3% for Chinese cars after the European Commission started its anti-dumping probe, Retuers reported separately the same day.

China's biggest local automakers include Dongfeng Motor Group (HKG:0489), SAIC Motor (SHA:600104), Chongqing Changan Automobile (SHE:000625), BAIC Motor (HKG:1958), Guangzhou Automobile Group (SHA:601238, HKG:2238), Great Wall Motors (SHA:601633, HKG:2333) and FAW Group (SHE:000800).

Top new-energy vehicle manufacturers include BYD (SHE:002594, HKG:1211), Li Auto (HKG:2015), XPeng (HKG:9868) and NIO (HKG:9866, SGX:NIO).