China started an anti-subsidy investigation into the imports of potato starch from the European Union, the first countervailing investigation against the EU, the Ministry of Commerce said today.

The Potato Starch Specialty Council under the China Starch Industry Association requested the investigation, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

The case followed the EU's decision in May to impose an anti-dumping tariff of up to 20.6 percent on China's aluminum alloy wheels and its ruling in December last year to extend tariffs on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes by 15 months.

China has levied an anti-dumping tariff ranging from 17 percent to 35 percent since February of 2007 on imports of EU potato starch, which is widely used in food processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles and animal feed.

In March of this year, the specialty council also demanded the ministry to review the rate of the anti-dumping duties, because they can no longer reflect the new situation as the "dumping rate of EU producers has surpassed the rate of the tariffs," according to earlier media reports.

The amount of EU's exports of potato starch to China is not immediately available. But earlier reports said it accounts for 5 to 10 percent of EU's total potato starch sales.