China on Monday launched an anti-dumping investigation into pork imports from the European Union, China's commerce ministry said.

Beijing said the investigation was launched following an application on behalf of the country's producers, and will be carried out amid escalating trade tensions between China and the EU.

China remains Europe's main export market for pork, although supplies have been declining in recent years due to domestic overproduction in China itself and falling prices.

China imported pork and its by-products from the EU worth nearly €3 billion last year, mainly from Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to Chinese customs data.

This decision by Beijing is likely in response to European regulators' investigations into imports from China of a number of commodity groups.

The European Commission last week threatened to impose additional tariffs of up to 38% on imports of electric cars from China from next month following a subsidy investigation.

Beijing condemned the move as having no factual or legal basis and said it was considering appealing to the World Trade Organisation.