China has said it may take the dispute to the World Trade Organisation and Chong said the European Union should reconsider its decision and "make a determination in conformity with WTO rules".

Chinese shoppers look at a shoe sculpture that is part of a fashion and art exhibit in the busy Nanjing Road shopping area of Shanghai. China's shoe makers will appeal Europe's decision to slap anti-dumping tariffs on their leather products amid concerns the duties will have a major impact on local industry. [AFP]

Some China-based footwear manufacturers said the European Union's long-threatened decision had already hurt orders, with European buyers wary of price uncertainties. Others said they had yet to feel any effect.

Michael Wu, who leads a coalition of over 100 China-based shoemakers fighting the anti-dumping duties, told Reuters the ultimate effect of the EU measure could be "very large".

"In the short term it will be moderate, but it will definitely affect lots of companies if the level rises past 19 percent," said Wu, who is deputy chairman of Hong Kong-listed shoemaker Pegasus International Holdings Ltd., which runs a shoemaking complex in far southern China.

An editorial in the English-language China Daily said the EU decision would not save shoemakers in Europe.

"The curb on China shoe imports will not sharpen EU shoemakers' competitive edge," it said. "Painful but inevitable industrial restructuring would be the better option."

Chinese footwear manufacturers were planning a legal fund to contest the EU decision, the Xinhua news agency said.

The China Leather Industry Association reported on its Web site that targeted manufacturers were shifting to other materials and striking deals with other, unaffected firms to reduce losses from the threatened duties.

Last year, Mandelson was at the centre of tortuous negotiations with China over EU limits on garment exports.