The investigation period on import dumping is from January 1 to December 31 of last year, while the period for evaluating industrial damage covers four years from the first day of 2020 to the last day of 2023, the ministry said.
Having started on Monday, the investigation should last no more than a year, but it could be extended for a further six months, Mofcom added.
According to official customs data, in 2023, Spain was China’s biggest source of pork products covered by the investigation, with shipments worth more than US$1.5 billion. It was followed by the United States and Brazil.
The Netherlands, Denmark and France ranked fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
The investigation was said to be initiated in response to a formal application from the China Animal Agriculture Association (CAAA), which represents the domestic pork industry and requested an anti-dumping investigation into imported pork from the EU on June 6.
“After receiving the application, the investigation agency reviewed the application in accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations and in compliance with World Trade Organization rules,” a Mofcom spokesperson said on Monday.
“It believed that the application met the conditions for filing an anti-dumping investigation and decided to launch an investigation.
“The investigation agency will conduct investigations in accordance with the law, fully protect the rights of all interested parties, and make objective and fair rulings based on the investigation results.”
[T]he EU has been dumping pork and pork products at low prices in China in recent years
China is the world’s largest pork consumer. Some 700 million hogs – more than half of the world’s annual pork production – are eaten in the country of 1.4 billion people each year.
A staple meat in China, pork accounts for about 60 per cent of the country’s total meat consumption. In 2023, China’s domestic pork production reached 57.94 million tonnes, and the country imported 1.55 million tonnes of pork, according to official figures.
The EU is China’s largest import source of pork and pork products, accounting for around 54 per cent of total imports between 2020 and 2023, according to the CAAA application unveiled by Mofcom, citing Chinese customs data.
“In light of the fact that the EU has been dumping pork and pork products at low prices in China in recent years, this has [negatively] impacted China’s pork industry, related breeding industries and the interests of farmers,” the application said.
The reasons behind the robust pork exports from EU to China in the past few years include the bloc’s consumption habits – such as not eating pork offal – and “massive” subsidies, it added.
It added that there is “a large amount of overcapacity” in the EU’s pork production – mirroring allegations from Western politicians on China’s new-energy industry, which they argued has strangled their domestic manufacturing sectors.
“As the world’s largest pork-consumption market, China is extremely attractive to the EU. It is the EU’s largest pork-export destination and has naturally become the best destination for transferring excess production capacity,” it said.
In targeting the pork trade, Beijing’s foremost consideration is whether the growth of sales of the commodity in the Chinese market qualifies for an anti-dumping investigation under WTO rules, said Cui Hongjian, a professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
And China could have also considered the fact that countries such as Spain and France, which are major pork exporters to China, are also key promoters of EV tariff hikes, he said.
“But this may not be a major factor, because the issue is now concentrated at the EU level, and the bloc’s internal divergence is not something China should consider the most,” Cui said.
However, while Beijing may not be interested in escalating trade frictions nor moving “towards the prospect of a trade war, because it will hurt both sides”, Cui said that, “at the same time, China needs to remind the EU that it must take into account the comprehensive trade interdependence between us”.
For months, farmers across Europe have staged a number of mass protests against the continent’s climate policies, as new rules on greenhouse gas emissions could significantly increase production costs.
“So, if now because Europe does not correctly handle the economic and trade with China – and that could eventually damage Europe’s agricultural sector again – I think the consequences need to be seriously considered by Europe,” Cui said.
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement that the announcement from China was not surprising, as it is not the first time that a probe announced in one jurisdiction triggered another in return.
“The European Chamber expects to see a fact-based probe with a view to ensure such principles for all market participants,” it said. “The Chamber encourages both sides to take action to depoliticise the business environment and find ways to address the underlying causes.”