BEIJING, April 30 -- The Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that the European Commission (EC) had issued a "notice of initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars" originating in China.

This is the first anti-dumping probe by the European Union (EU) into Chinese products, said the ministry website, asking companies involved to take note.

A complaint was lodged on March 17, 2015 by the European Steel Association on behalf of producers representing more than 25 percent of the total EU production of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars.

The investigation will decide "whether the product under investigation originating in the country concerned is being dumped and whether the dumped imports have caused injury to the Union industry," according to the notice.

The investigation will last 15 months and the EU may impose provisional measures no later than nine months from the publication of the notice.