Beijing, May 22 (IANS): China is likely to make a substantive move this year toward initiating an anti-dumping investigation into wine imported from the eurozone, according to Xinhua .

Chinese wine producers have been squeezed by stiff competition from their strong overseas counterparts and a persistent slump in their domestic market.

The China Security Journal has reported the government may take a further step in pushing the probe in response to a strong call from the domestic wine industry and a string of anti-dumping cases brought by the European Union (EU) against Chinese products.

The Chinese Alcoholic Drinks Association announced last August that it had submitted a petition to the Ministry of Commerce, calling for an anti-dumping investigation regarding wine imported from the EU.

Exports now make up nearly one-third of China's liquor market. Wine from the EU took up 58.7 per cent of China's wine imports in the first two months of 2013, according to customs statistics.

Most Chinese winemakers have posted disappointing financial figures. China became the world's fifth-largest consumer of wine in 2011. It is poised to become the second-largest liquor importer by 2015, according to International Wine & Spirit Research.