HONG KONG — China’s nouveau riche millionaires, affluent princelings and bribe-giving business executives may soon find their wallets a little thinner: The price tag for French Champagne, Italian Barolos and other European wines may soon rise in mainland Chinese stores.

China’s Ministry of Commerce announced Wednesday that it had begun an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation of wines imported from the European Union, which could lead to the imposition of steep tariffs.
The decision came quickly after the European Union’s trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, announced Tuesday in Brussels that he was imposing preliminary tariffs of 11.8 percent on solar panels imported from China. But the Chinese ministry carefully avoided linking the solar panels to the wine dispute in its announcement, saying instead that it was acting in response to a complaint from Chinese wineries.
The ministry issued a separate statement to express its “resolute opposition” to the solar panel decision. “We hope the E.U. will further show their sincerity and show flexibility, through consultations to find mutually acceptable solutions,” the statement said.
The ministry did not indicate the possible level of import duties on European wines.
The solar panel tariffs imposed Tuesday were about a quarter of the 47.6 percent tariffs that Mr. De Gucht had planned to impose until Prime Minister Li Keqiang began lobbying Germany and the European Commission heavily in the past week. Mr. De Gucht imposed the lower tariffs as a compromise but warned that they would rise to the originally planned level in two months if no deal could be negotiated before then to offset the effect of possible Chinese dumping and subsidies.
Some in China may be able to avoid the higher price tags for wine if they are imposed. Hong Kong eliminated taxes on wine several years ago in a fairly successful bid to become a wine-trading hub, and the nearly autonomous territory has become a popular place for many mainlanders to drink and to buy a bottle or two to take home.