The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), said on Wednesday that shoe imports from China had surged in the first four months of this year.

According to data released by the commission, imports from China for six categories of footwear, mostly leather shoes, increased by almost 700 percent since the quota was scrapped at the beginning of this year.

"The European Commission has noted the concerns of the EU footwear industry that this rise in imports is causing considerable market disruption to EU producers," the commission said in a press release.

EU trade spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said the commission would quickly consider any request from the shoe industry for an antidumping probe.

"If (a probe) showed that there are disloyal exports, that is exports at below production price, we'll take action, but we have to start with an inquiry," Veron-Reville said.

Source: Xinhua