Beijing has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the European Commission's (EC) decision to impose lofty anti-dumping duties on Chinese bus and lorry tyres.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) claims that the EC has artificially raised the dumping margins by using the cost of production in a third country to calculate the value of Chinese products, which is typically known as the 'surrogate country approach'.

"We urge the European side to fully implement its obligations under Article 15 of the Protocol on China’s Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and treat Chinese companies fairly during anti-dumping investigations," said MOC spokesman Gao Feng on Thursday.

Article 15 required all WTO members to stop using surrogate country approach during anti-dumping investigations into Chinese companies by December 11, 2016.

The European Union's executive announced on Monday that it will impose temporary anti-dumping duties of up to 166 percent on Chinese bus and lorry tyres for six months as of May 8. The EC will decide whether to extend the measure for a further five years based on the results of the ongoing investigation.

The EC initiated its investigation in August 2017 in response to a complaint by EU tyre manufacturers. It is estimated that China's share of tyre imports into the EU increased from 17 percent to 21 percent between January 2014 and June 2017.

The EU's move comes amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts by China and the US to avert a trade war. As no major breakthrough was made during the opening round of talks, uncertainty over the lessening of global trade tensions seem set to continue.