A World Trade Organization panel largely backed China in a complaint about the European Union's decision to impose anti-dumping tariffs on imports of Chinese footwear.

In a ruling, the panel told the European Union to bring its anti-dumping regulations into conformity with WTO rules and said the bloc had acted inconsistently with WTO anti-dumping rules.

But it said there was no need for the EU to change the disputed tariffs because they had already expired on March 31 this year. It also rejected the bulk of China's claims on behalf of individual producers and some of its more specific complaints. (Reuters)