China strongly opposed Canada's decision to levy anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on seamless carbon or alloy steel oil and well casing pipes from China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Wednesday.

Seamless casing pipes are widely used in oil exploration and gas wells.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on August 13, 2007 initiated a probe into imports of Chinese steel seamless casing pipes and concluded last month that Chinese producers were subsidized by the government and deemed the Chinese industry as non-market-oriented.

The government and the country's industry strongly opposed this ruling, the MOC spokesman said in a statement.

The Chinese government and enterprises gave sufficient support to the Canadian investigation. The evidence provided by the Chinese side proved that the casing pipe industry is a highly competitive one and the government did not intervene in the enterprises' daily operation and price setting decisions, said the spokesman.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is yet to make a final decision on whether to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese manufacturers.

"We hope that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal can make a fair ruling, and we would keep a close eye on the progress and take measures to protect the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises," said the statement.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)