BEIJING, June 9 -- The European Union warned on Wednesday it would not hesitate to slap import duties on Chinese footwear if it was clear that unfair trade practices were behind a triple-digit leap in shipments since the start of this year.

    The spotlight on Chinese exports of shoes and slippers comes amid mounting tension over moves by the United States and the 25-nation EU to curb huge rises in imports of textiles and clothing from China.

    "The European Commission has noted the concerns of the EU footwear industry that this rise is causing considerable market disruptions to EU producers," the European Commission said.

    The EU's executive said there had been a year-on-year rise of 681 percent in imports of six categories of Chinese footwear in the first four months of this year, with shipments of some shoes jumping by well over 1,000 percent.

    Prices dropped by 28 percent over the same period.

    "We have just had these figures, we are looking at them and we are reflecting on what course of action we should take," Commission spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville told reporters.

    "We will not shy away to act: to act is to take anti-dumping measures," she added, making it clear that the EU would impose special import duties if it was proved that China was using unfair pricing to the detriment of European industry.

    Veron-Reville said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson may travel to Beijing on Friday to try to clinch an agreement on restraining a surge on textile exports, which was unleashed by the abolition of a decades-old global quotas regime on Jan. 1.

    (China Daily/Agencies)