European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels on Thursday that the European Union (EU) "favors dialogue" in handling trade disputes with China.

"It's possible to resolve the dispute through dialogue," said Barroso at a press conference prior to the EU summit.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Commission officially adopted provisional anti-dumping measures on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes which will be effective from April 7 for about six months.

Barroso said the EU "favors dialogue" and "cooperation" in handling trade disputes with "such an important partner as China" citing the example of the successful handling of the textiles issue with China last year.

According to the EU's executive the anti-dumping duties are to be phased in over six months starting at 4.8 percent and rising to 19.4 percent for Chinese shoes and from 4.2 percent to 16.8 percent for Vietnamese footwear. But children's shoes and high-tech sports footwear will be excluded from the tariffs.

Barroso defended the EU's decision saying that the move was "necessary" and the decision was made after "vigorous investigation" and was supported by the majority of EU member states.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2006)