Seoul, Sep 26 (IANS): South Korea plans to launch an antidumping investigation into stainless steel plates imported from China after a local company claimed that cheap imports have damaged the domestic market, the industry ministry said on Thursday.

The move came after DK Corp filed a complaint with the Korea Trade Commission in June, claiming that stainless steel plates from four Chinese companies were imported at below reasonable market prices, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The plates are widely used in various industries, including the petrochemical, shipbuilding, and semiconductor sectors, reports Yonhap news agency.

The commission said it plans to carry out investigations on products imported in 2023.

Last month, the government said that Children's bicycles, skates and sunglasses sold in South Korea by Chinese online platform AliExpress have been found to contain a hazardous substance exceeding the country’s standard by about 260 times.

The government conducted a safety examination on 16 kinds of children's products sold on AliExpress, such as inline skates, kickboards, bicycles, glasses, and sunglasses, and half of them were found to contain hazardous substances exceeding domestic standards or were not durable enough.

The number of complaints by South Korean users about the products and services on the Chinese platforms has soared recently.

Given this, the South Korean antitrust regulator Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in May signed agreements with the Chinese retail platforms AliExpress and Temu meant to prevent them from selling harmful products and to better protect consumers.

The move came as the customs agency found that some of the products sold on AliExpress, owned by Alibaba, and Temu contained high levels of carcinogens and other harmful substances, the FTC said.