A lawyer for Zhejiang Aokang Shoes Co, the largest privately owned footwear manufacturer in China, said Monday the firm's victory in a law suit against EU anti-dumping measures offered encouragement for other domestic firms.
"It sets a positive example for domestic firms in their global trade and expansion," Pu Lingchen, who worked on Aokang's case against the EU, told the Global Times Monday.
Aokang received a written ruling Sunday from the European Court of Justice, which said the company would get over 5 million yuan ($801,600) in compensation for legal costs from the Council of the EU as a result of winning its appeal against an earlier General Court of the EU ruling.
In October 2006, the EU imposed a 16.5 percent anti-dumping tariff on leather shoes imported from China and then at the end of 2009 extended the tariff for 15 months.
The measure affected over 1,200 shoemakers in China and many footwear makers had to pull out of the EU market. Aokang and four other footwear makers, however, decided to take legal action.
Aokang and the four other shoemakers lost their first law suit in April 2010 and the four others gave up their legal efforts. However, Aokang continued and appealed to the European Court of Justice against the verdict.
In April 2010, the Chinese government filed a complaint with the WTO accusing the EU of imposing illegal duties.
One year later, the EU canceled the anti-dumping duties upon the ruling's expiration but Aokang continued with its legal battle, eventually winning its appeal.
The company's lone battle deserves recognition, Pu said.
Some Chinese firms tend to accept rulings rather than contesting them through legal channels, as they think that foreign trade lawsuits take up a lot of resources in terms of time, energy and money, and that they stand little chance of winning, He Weiwen, director of International Business and Economics at the Sino-US Economy and Trade Center, told the Global Times Monday.
However, He said more companies should take legal measures in foreign trade disputes.