China Says Chicken-Dumping Complaints Against U.S. Have Grounds

China said Sunday it had grounds to start a formal anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into American chicken meat imports, as tensions persist following President Hu Jintao's visit to the U.S. The Commerce Ministry announcement said an initial examination that began two weeks ago into domestic chicken producers' concerns had grounds and officials would now formally investigate the U.S. imports. "The ministry had carefully evaluated the applications... and decided to start an investigation into unfair trade practices such as dumping and subsidies of chicken products imported from the United States," it said. The statement came after President Hu Jintao visited the United States to attend a summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, along with U.S. President Barack Obama. While Hu was at the summit, Chinese officials played down trade disputes with the US, saying they were focused on long term relations. China vowed to investigate chicken imports on Sept. 13 after the Obama administration slapped steep tariffs on imported Chinese tires. China called that move protectionist and had threatened to retaliate in China's first trade spat with the Obama administration. The United States is the largest chicken products exporter to China, comprising 90% of the 407,000 tons of chicken China imported in the first half of 2009, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009