China's imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Australian barley is a legitimate trade remedy measure taken by the country, and China holds a cautious and restrained attitude toward adopting such measures, said Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan on Monday.

Zhong made the statement at this year's second "Ministers' Corridor" on the sidelines of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, better known as the country's annual Two Sessions.

The live-broadcast group interviews got their name because they oftentimes take place on walkways leading to the main hall of the Great Hall of the People before or after plenary meetings of the "Two Sessions," during which ministers and heads of various government departments take questions from media outlets on the most pressing public issues.

World's second-largest economy on May 18 proclaimed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totaling 80.5 percent on Australian barley imports, claiming Australian subsidies and dumping had "substantially damaged domestic industry." Australia is the biggest barley supplier to China, exporting about 1.5 to 2 billion Australian dollars (980 to 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) worth of barley a year - which is more than half its exports.

"Our trade remedy investigations against Australian barley were launched at end of 2018, during which we solicited opinions from stakeholders. The investigation lasted one and a half years, and we found out dumping and subsidy are matters of fact," the minister added.

Zhong said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia, China has launched only one case of trade remedy investigation against Australia, but during this period, Australia initiated 100 investigations against China, of which three were made during the spread of COVID-19.

The senior official also urged WTO members to fight together against the COVID-19 pandemic and resort to trade remedy measures in a cautious manner.