AOKANG Again Sued The European Commission On Leather Shoes Anti-Dumping

AOKANG will join the China Leather Association again to accuse the European Commission to the high court, and strive for the final judgement of the high court to give Chinese shoe enterprises a fair and just ruling.

At the end of 2006, five Chinese shoe companies such as AOKANG filed the European Commission's complaint to the European Court of justice. However, the trial was dismissed by the court last month. "We will fight this lawsuit to the end, and we will not give up."

Wang Zhentao, chairman of AOKANG group, said.

According to the Chinese lawyer, Pu Ling Chen, who was in charge of the case, he found that there were still many problems in the evaluation of the legal facts of the general court by reading the preliminary judgment of the European Court of justice.

According to the provisions of European law, China will submit the litigation documents and relevant evidence materials to the Supreme Court by May 4th.

"We are very supportive of AOKANG's continuing appeal. On the one hand, there are many doubtful points in the first instance of the European Court of justice. The Supreme Court of appeal still has the assurance of winning. On the other hand, the Chinese government needs to express its attitude and position in the process of opening the trade settlement mechanism, which will be beneficial to the termination of the anti-dumping case in March next year."

Wei Ya Fei, director of shoe making office of China Leather Association, told reporters.

Just the day before, 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 for the anti-dumping case against China's leather shoes by the European Union, and formally launched the trial procedure of the expert group on WTO dispute settlement.

The anti-dumping case for leather shoes in China and Europe, which expired in October 2006, expired in October 2008 and entered the stage of review.

After nearly a year's review, in December 2009, the European Commission decided to extend anti-dumping duties on Chinese leather shoes for 15 months, despite the opposition of most member states. The tax rate remained unchanged at 16.5%, and began in January 2010.

In February 4, 2010, China filed a request for consultations under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.

In March 31st, the two sides held consultations but failed to reach an agreement.

Therefore, China requests the WTO to set up an expert group to hear the case and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

At the same time, China hopes that the EU can attach importance to China's concerns and resolve disputes in good faith, so as to resume the free trade of leather shoes at an early date.