China has rejected the European Commission's decision on Tuesday to impose anti-subsidy duties on China-made electric vehicles (EVs), denouncing the move as "protectionist."

The anti-subsidy duties on China-made EVs will be effective from Thursday and will last five years, reported China Central Television. Duties range from 7.8 percent for cars produced in Tesla's Shanghai plant and up to 35.3 percent for Chinese brand SAIC.

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said China "does not agree with or accept" the EU's move and has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism.

The country will continue to take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson added.

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) said in a Wednesday statement that the European Commission has failed to rectify numerous erroneous conclusions in its final ruling.

“The Commission's unfair, unreasonable, and subjective conclusions in this case constitute a serious violation of the rules of the WTO and the EU's anti-subsidy regulations," the CCCME said.

The president of Germany's auto industry association VDA said that German and European manufacturers who export from China to the EU are burdened with higher duties than individual competitors from China and the US.

"The intended tariffs not only increase the risk of a mutual trade conflict, but would also make vehicles significantly more expensive for consumers," said VDA President Hildegard Muller in a statement.

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU on Tuesday expressed disappointment with the EU's decision, stating that the tariffs will not benefit the EU's EV manufacturing sector. Instead of driving innovation, creating employment within the industry, they will hinder collaboration and progress, it said. The chamber urged both sides to accelerate negotiations and eliminate the tariffs to promote cooperation and innovation.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said that China has always advocated resolving trade disputes through dialogue and consultation. Currently, technical teams from both sides are conducting a new round of consultations with the goal of reaching a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible to avoid the escalation of trade frictions, the spokesperson said.

China exported 928,000 EVs in the first nine months of the year, 12.5 percent more than the same period last year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed. In the first eight months, Belgium, Brazil and the UK were the top importers of Chinese EVs, CAAM data indicated.