BEIJING - China appears to have notched up a victory in a dispute against the United States over the latter's ban on poultry imports, according to an interim report by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We think the US will not try to impose a similar ban in the next fiscal year, since it would be regarded as open defiance of the latest WTO ruling," a Ministry of Commerce official, who declined to be named, told China Daily on Wednesday, adding that Beijing had received the WTO report.

Another ministry official, Cheng Yongru, said China should take a firmer stance on import restrictions and technical barriers.