Authorities in China have said that the period of its investigation into so-called 'subsidies' paid to the EU dairy sector will be extended.

This time last year, China's Ministry of Commerce announced that an investigation had been launched into subsidies paid to European dairy farmers, with one Irish farm scheme specifically cited by the country's authorities.

Now today (Monday, August 18), the country's commerce ministry has confirmed the "investigation period" of the case will be extended until next year.

A statement from the ministry (translated to English) said: "In view of the complexity of this case...the Ministry of Commerce has decided to extend the investigation period of this case to February 21."

No other details were provided by the ministry in its short statement.

When first announcing the investigation last year, the ministry had said that the period of subsidy payments under investigation would be from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, and the "industry injury" investigation period is a four-year timeframe from January 1, 2020 to March 31, 2024.

The basis for the investigation is that certain subsidised EU dairy products allegedly impact on China's domestic dairy industry.

Representatives of the Chinese dairy industry claimed that certain EU dairy products received subsidies from the EU and its member governments, and that the EU dairy industry "may benefit from a total of 20 subsidy projects".

The products under investigation include fresh cheese, processed cheese, blue cheese, milk, and cream, that are used for food consumption directly or after processing.

Among the 20 EU subsidy schemes cited in the investigation is an Irish scheme which is referred to on translated versions of the ministry's statements as the "Dairy Equipment Subsidy Scheme". This likely refers to the Dairy Equipment Scheme under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).

This investigation is seen as part of long-standing trade tensions between the EU and China.

The announcement of China's investigation into the EU's dairy industry followed on from an earlier announcement from the European Commission to impose countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicle batteries from China.

In September last year, the European Commission formally challenged the Chinese investigation by taking the issue to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The commission said its decision to go to the WTO was prompted by "an emerging pattern of China initiating trade defence measures, based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence, within a short period of time".