Chinese shoe imports up

The European Union Commission said yesterday shipments of Chinese shoes into Europe jumped nearly eightfold from a year ago during the first four months of this year, a finding that supports recent complaints by European shoemakers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Cheap Chinese slippers, leather shoes and cloth shoes have entered the EU since quotas on Chinese footwear ended Jan. 1, the EU commission said, adding that shoe prices sank 28% from a year ago. A Chinese official in Brussels contested the data, claiming growth in Chinese shoe shipments to the EU slowed 12% from a year ago in the first four months of the year.