May 20, China's Ministry of Commerce's law enforcement division said recently that China hopes to resolve disputes between China and Europe on leather shoes trade as soon as possible under the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

WTO has formally set up an expert group in May 18th to investigate and decide on the relevant provisions of the basic law of the European Union anti-dumping and the anti-dumping measures adopted by the European Union on leather shoes in China, in violation of international trade rules.

The official pointed out that the EU's anti-dumping investigations and rulings against Chinese leather shoes violated the relevant rules of WTO and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. The Chinese government made many representations on many bilateral occasions but failed to resolve disputes.

In 2006, the EU decided to impose an anti-dumping duty of up to 16.5% on shoes imported from China for a period of two years. In December 22nd last year, it decided to extend the anti-dumping measures for another 15 months.

In February of this year, the Chinese government initiated a request for negotiation under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism on the case. On 31 June, the two sides held consultations, but failed to resolve China's concerns about.4 months. The Chinese government sent a letter to the WTO dispute settlement body through the permanent WTO delegation to set up an expert group's request on China's anti-dumping case against China's leather shoes against the European Union..3