RIYADH (AFP)- Senior officials from Saudi Arabia and China Sunday failed to resolve Chinese dumping charges on certain Saudi petrochemicals, although they played down the impact of the dispute.

Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said talks with visiting Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming went well, but the two sides couldn’t resolve the issue of China’s antidumping penalties on imports of 1,4-butanediol from Saudi Arabia.

“We continued to discuss this today. We believe we can resolve this problem,” Assaf said in a press conference with Chen.

Dec. 24, China announced antidumping tariffs of up to 13.6% on Saudi- and Taiwan-produced 1,4-butanediol, a chemical used to make some plastics, elastic fiber and polyurethanes.

The decision followed an investigation which showed that the exporters were dumping it at too low prices and hurting Chinese producers.

After the penalty was announced, the Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (2310.SA) said that China had levied a 4.5% antidumping tax on imports of its butanediol.

Chen and Assaf, meanwhile, said they have targeted a 50% growth in bilateral trade between 2009 and 2015, increasing the total annual value from $40 billion last year to $60 billion.

Bilateral trade is heavily weighted in Saudi Arabia’s favor, with China importing mainly crude oil and petrochemical products.