Chinese and Australian national flags are seen at an event in Sydney, Australia, September 8, 2019. Photo:Xinhua

Since China's anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation and relevant punitive tariffs against Australia's barley imports have recently become sources of tension, China's Commerce Minister said the investigation is the only one initiated by China on Australia, compared to more than 100 investigations launched by Australia.

The China-initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation on barley imports from Australia is in line with Chinese law, said Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on Monday in Beijing on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia, this is the only anti-dumping investigation initiated by China, while Australia has launched over 100 investigations into China, with three cases this year amid the outbreak of coronavirus," said Zhong, noting that China is prudent and restrained when it comes to imposing anti-dumping measures.

In the course of the one-year-and-half investigation, China listened extensively to the views of relevant parties and protected the rights of Chinese and Australian enterprises. During the investigation, Chinese investigators found that there were subsidies and dumping of barley from Australia, which caused serious damage to the China's domestic industry, the minister added.

China imposed anti-dumping tariffs of up to 73.6 percent on barley imported from Australia for five years, effective from May 19, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on May 18.