The alleged level of dumping on the Chinese mainland by phenol exporters from these regions is between 7 percent and 144 percent, said the Ministry of Commerce yesterday in its preliminary judgment.

As of yesterday, importers are required to turn in cash bonds comparable to exporters' dumping margins with customs in advance of imports.

The ministry said the anti-dumping investigations will continue with final judgment on whether to impose anti-dumping tariffs being made in a year.

The case was launched by the commerce ministry's predecessor, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC), on August 1, 2002.

The Shanghai Gaoqiao subsidiary of Sinopec, Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Co Ltd, Jilin chemical sales centre of PetroChina Co Ltd and China Lanxing (Harbin) Petrochemical Co Ltd applied for an anti-dumping inquiry on June 18, 2002 on behalf of the Chinese mainland's phenol industry.

These companies made up about 80 percent of the mainland's total phenol output in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Data from the commerce ministry indicates the mainland's consumption of phenol has increased during the period investigated, but imports rose more rapidly and took an increasingly larger domestic market share causing prices to fall.

The Chinese mainland started 22 anti-dumping cases and one safeguard measure between 1997-2002, official data shows.

These involve mainly the iron and steel, chemical and light industries and saved them losses of about 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), according to published official statistics.

The Chinese mainland acted to improve protection of its fair trade environment for domestic and overseas firms following its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

It established the Fair Trade Bureau for Import and Export under the former MOFTEC to take charge of responding to overseas anti-dumping and anti-subsidy charges and safeguard measures, investigating other countries' and regions' trade barriers and reviewing and accepting domestic petitions for anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures.

Last year alone, the Chinese mainland launched 10 cases involving total yearly sales of 59.2 billion yuan (US$7.15 billion), investigated 16 cases, delivered primary judgments in favour of domestic firms in 10 cases, one final judgment with anti-dumping tariffs and concluded one case by announcing no substantial harm had been caused, by the imports in question, to domestic industries.

(China Daily June 10, 2003)