China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday that it has received, and will properly handle, a request from the European Union (EU) regarding consultations on Chinese duties imposed on steel tube imports from the EU.

China will properly handle the issue within the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said an official with the Department of Treaty and Law of the MOC.

The EU said Thursday that it has lodged a complaint with the WTO against Chinese duties imposed on imports of steel tubes from the EU and requested consultations with China in the WTO.

In November, the MOC decided to impose five-year anti-dumping duties on high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes (HP-SSST) from the EU and Japan, after it found that the two economies had been dumping the products in the Chinese market and substantially harming Chinese producers.