China said Monday it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of pork products from the European Union.
The probe is in response to an application submitted on behalf of domestic producers, Beijing said, and comes in the face of mounting trade tensions between China and the EU.
"The Ministry of Commerce has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of relevant pork and pig by-products originating from the European Union," the ministry said in a statement.
China has criticized the bloc's decision last week to slap additional tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports from next month after an anti-subsidy probe.
The European Commission pointed to "unfair subsidization" in China, which it said "is causing a threat of economic injury" to EU electric car makers.
Beijing warned the tariffs would "harm Europe's own interests" and condemned the bloc's "protectionism".
Pork is China's most popular meat and a staple of diets in the world's second most populous nation.
