Yes, and the question is now less useful than it used to be.
Why the question is less useful than it was
When this was a live debate, the implication was that Chinese manufacture meant cheap and unreliable, and European manufacture meant quality.
Two things have changed.
Most panels are now made in China or by Chinese-headquartered companies, including a large share of what is sold as premium. The manufacturers UK installers most commonly fit are predominantly Chinese. If you rule them out, you are ruling out most of the market.
Several of the European manufacturers held up as the alternative have gone. Schott Solar and Bosch both exited photovoltaic manufacturing. A German name on a panel often now refers to a brand or a design origin rather than a German factory. See which brands you will be quoted.
So country of origin is no longer the signal it was believed to be. It was probably never as good a signal as people thought.
What to check instead
The specific manufacturer and model “Chinese panels” covers everything from the largest and most sophisticated manufacturers in the world to operations nobody has heard of. The country tells you nothing. The company tells you a lot.
Whether the manufacturer has a real UK presence This is the one that matters, and it matters regardless of where the factory is. A warranty is a promise from a company that has to exist and be reachable for you to claim on it. Ask: is there a UK office or distributor, and how would a claim work in year twelve?
Both warranties, product and performance, which are separate. See warranties.
How long the manufacturer has been trading, and through what. Solar manufacturing has been brutal. Several very large names have collapsed, including Suntech and Yingli, both Chinese, and Hanergy. Survival through that period is itself informative.
Price per watt installed, compared like for like against your other quotes.
The honest summary
Buy from an established manufacturer with a real UK route to make a warranty claim, at a sensible price per watt, fitted by a good installer. That is the whole answer, and where the factory is does not feature in it.
If someone is using country of origin as a selling point in either direction, ask them what they actually mean by it.
On supply chains
There has been reporting and regulatory attention on labour practices and supply chain transparency in parts of the global solar supply chain. If this matters to you, and it is a reasonable thing to care about, ask your installer what the manufacturer publishes about its supply chain and where its polysilicon is sourced.
We are not in a position to verify any manufacturer’s supply chain and we are not going to imply that we are. But it is a fair question to put to the people selling you the panels, and a good manufacturer will have an answer.