The Ministry of Commerce Photo: VCG

China on Sunday initiated an anti-dumping investigation into polyformaldehyde copolymer imported from the EU, the US, Japan and China's Taiwan region, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced.

On April 22, the MOFCOM received an application from Chinese mainland-based companies including Yunnan Yuntianhua Co, National Energy Group Ningxia Coal Industry Co and Kaifeng Longyu Chemical Co, requesting a formal anti-dumping investigation into polyformaldehyde copolymer imports from the EU, the US, Japan and China's Taiwan region, according to a statement published on the MOFCOM website.

The investigation will cover the period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, the statement said.

The probe began on Sunday and is expected to be completed before May 19, 2025. The probe may be extended for six months under exceptional circumstances, the government agency said.

The aggregate output of the applicants for the move accounted for more than 50 percent of the market from 2021 to 2023, making their application eligible, according to MOFCOM. 

The ministry said that relevant stakeholders can register to take part in the probe and they are required to provide necessary information to competent authorities.

Tu Xinquan, dean of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that an anti-dumping probe is part of the normal toolkit used by the WTO members to contain any potential impact on the domestic market, and it is an allowed practice under the framework of the WTO.

It should be noted that China is quite restrained in applying trade remedy measures compared with some countries, Tu said.

"These measures under the WTO framework stand in sharp contrast with those taken by the US government in its US Section 301 investigations, a unilateral action," Tu said.

Ge Linlin, an analyst with domestic online commodity platform 315i.com, told the Global Times on Monday that the countries and regions involved in the probe exported about 150,000-170,000 tons of polyformaldehyde copolymer to China annually in the past few years.

The MOFCOM in October 2023 made a decision to keep in place anti-dumping duties on polyformaldehyde copolymer imported from South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia for another five years after a review.

The MOFCOM said that termination of trade remedy measures may continue to cause damage to the domestic industry or cause damage to occur again.

Polyformaldehyde copolymer is used to replace non-ferrous metals such as copper, zinc and tin to manufacture mechanical parts, and it is widely used in automobiles, machinery, electronic appliances, construction and piping.

As seen in the February edition of the trade friction index of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the US, India and the EU were the major countries or trading bodies that triggered global economic and trade friction, the CCPIT said on April 28.