A Chinese shoemakers' alliance says it will send a delegation to attend a hearing organized by the European Union Trade Commission on the levy of anti-dumping taxes on Chinese shoes.

The hearing, scheduled to take place in Brussels of Belgium next Tuesday, was arranged at the request of China Alliance in Response to EU Anti-Dumping of Chinese Footwear.

Founded in April, the alliance comprises more than 150 shoemakers from regions such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jilin provinces, with the purpose of mounting a joint defense against the EU anti-dumping duties.

A delegation consisting of eight to nine members including attorneys, corporate executives will voice their opinions at next Tuesday's hearing, according to Wu Zhenchang, one of the members of the delegation.

Wu, also president of the board of Chuangxin Shoe Making Co. Ltd., based in Panyu, Guangdong Province, heralds the scheduled hearing as a platform where lies a new hope of regaining fair treatment for Chinese shoemakers on the overseas market.

"We should make every effort to fight for fair treatment of China-made shoes on the international market by playing the rules of the World Trade Organization," says Wu.

Since April 7, the EU has levied the duties on leather shoes made in China. The European Commission (EC), the EU executive body, has phased in a duty of 4.8 percent, rising to 19.4 percent in six months. The anti-dumping tariff now stands at 9.7 percent.

Zhu Feng, secretary-general of Footwear and Leatherware Guild of Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, describes EU's anti-dumping decision as biased and unfair.

"Anti-dumping will harm consumers in EU the most," says Zhu, "EU should listen to the outcry of Chinese shoemakers and avoid the outcome of mutual destruction through dialogues and negotiations."

The alliance has made repeated appeals to the EC to stave off possible long-term anti-dumping measures, says Wu, who initiated the establishment of the alliance.

Final ruling of the forthcoming hearing will come out on Oct. 7.

With rising costs from the tariffs, Chinese shoemakers have been adjusting production strategies to dodge risks, including shifting their production lines overseas.

But the blow has been felt by Guangdong Province, a leading international shoe-making base.

Statistics from Guangzhou said the province only exported 5.19 million pairs of shoes to Europe in April and 6.67 million pairs in May, compared with 10.16 million pairs in January.

Guangdong is not alone in the cornered situation.

Zhu Feng, the secretary-general of Footwear and Leatherware Guild of Wenzhou City, says shoe-makers of Wenzhou suffered drops ranging from 30 percent to 40 percent in the orders they got from the 99th China (Guangzhou) Export Commodity Fair held in April.

"With the anti-dumping tariffs kept rising, the devastating effects will become more and more obvious," says Zhu.

Zhou Yaohua, deputy general manager of Dongyi Shoe-Making Co.Ltd. of Wenzhou City, said his company had suffered a major setback in exports since EU introduced the anti-dumping measure against China-made shoes in April.

"My company is hard hit as many procurement traders take a wait-and-see attitude and choose to place fewer orders after the gradational anti-dumping tariffs are adopted," said Zhou.

According to Zhou, Dongyi Shoe-Making Co. Ltd. sells 95 percent of its products to overseas market. And 20 percent of the company's shoe exports are ended at European countries.

The old saying that never to put all the eggs in one basket always holds water, so the strategy to diversify the market has become a common option to take for all shoemakers in Wenzhou, said Zhu Feng, secretary-general of Footwear and Leatherware Guild of Wenzhou City.

Dongyi Shoe-Making Co. Ltd. has been making efforts to cultivate export market in Russia and the United States along withEU.

And Ji'erda Shoe-Making Co. Ltd, also based in Wenzhou, which exports 40 percent of its shoes to EU, has turned to Australia, Russia, the Middle East and North America for market penetration in order to limit the adverse impact from EU's anti-dumping measures against Chinese shoes, according to Xu Hongzhen, deputy general manager of Ji'erda Shoe-Making Co. Ltd.

Aokang Group of Wenzhou has turned inwardly for new market share and has spent 1 billion yuan (about 123 million U.S. dollars) in building a shoes' town in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

Editor: Yan