The ministry said, beginning immediately, importers of such rubber from the three nations must pay anti-dumping duties to Chinese customs agents, according to established dumping margins.

The dumping margins reach levels as high as 38 per cent.

China initiated an anti-dumping investigation with regard to styrene butadiene rubber, a chemical raw material for tyres and other rubber products, on March 19, 2002.

Four major domestic producers - Qilu Petrochemical Co Ltd, Shenhua Chemical Industrial, Jilin Chemical Industry Co Ltd and PetroChina Lanzhou Co - filed application seeking the investigation.

Based on the Chinese anti-dumping regulations, the ministry determined dumping had taken place and the imports did cause substantial damage to China's domestic rubber industry.

In fact, the local market for such products was on the rise during 2000 and 2001, increasing by 10.13 per cent and 21.38 per cent respectively.

But because of the impact from the low-priced imports, the domestic industry was unable to develop during those years, investigators found, and actually suffered a profit decline.

Pre-tax profits dropped by an averaged 256.8 per cent during 1999-2001, investigators learned.

According to official statistics, China initiated 10 such investigations last year. Annual sales of involved products stood at 59.2 billion yuan (US$7.15 billion).

(China Daily September 10, 2003)