China has asked the World Trade Organisation to set up an expert panel to help settle a dispute over electric vehicles subsidies under the US Inflation Reduction Act, the country's commerce ministry said on Monday.

According to Reuters, China opened the WTO dispute in late March after the Biden administration passed the IRA, a wide-ranging law that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to help consumers buy EVs and firms to produce renewable energy, as the White House looked to decarbonise the US power sector.

China had failed to reach a solution with the US through consultations that would safeguard the rights and interests of its EV industry, the ministry said in its statement cited by Reuters and so was advancing its case at the WTO.

The IRA "excludes products from WTO members such as China, artificially sets trade barriers, and pushes up the costs of green energy transition", China's commerce ministry told the news agency.

"We urge the U.S. to abide by WTO rules and stop abusing its industrial policies to undermine international cooperation on climate change," China was reported to have said.