BEIJING - Chinese steelmakers are not engaged in dumping of surplus goods into the European Union (EU), China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Wednesday.

In response to an EU anti-dumping probe, MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang told the press that low preliminary tariffs were not evidence of dumping by China.

Overcapacity is a worldwide industry problem and efforts by Chinese government and enterprises to restructure the steel industry and reduce excess capacity have made headways, Shen said.

China hopes to deal with overcapacity together with the EU, and protectionism will exacerbate the situation, he said.

Worried that cheap steel from China may prejudice its domestic interests, the European Commission is looking into imports of steel used to reinforce concrete and has imposed provisional duty on them.

In a separate case, the EU is expected rescind anti-dumping measures on Chinese fasteners in three weeks as the World Trade Organization ruled in January that the measures broke international trade rules.

"We have not verified the news yet, but if that were true, it would be a welcome step against protectionism," said Shen. "We hope the EU revokes the measures as soon as possible. "