At least 20 leading silk exporters, accounting for 80 per cent of China's silk fabric exports to India, are going to fight an Indian anti-dumping case, an industrial official said yesterday.

Wang Yu secretary-general of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Textiles, a major association for Chinese textile exporters spoke with China Daily after a national meeting to prepare China's response yesterday in Hangzhou.

The silk exporters attended the meeting, as did 12 law offices, including the AllBright Law Office, the Deheng Law Office and the Dacheng Law Firm, Wang said.

The case involves 100 Chinese exporters and products worth US$180 million. Chinese companies still have about one month to complete their response.

The meeting in Hangzhou was a platform for the companies to communicate with the law firms. More than 30 attended, and about 20 have shown their willingness to fight, Wang said.

The Chamber of Commerce is going to lead the challenge on whether the Chinese exports damaged Indian industry, Wang said.

Selling under the normal value and damage of the industry are two elements in deciding an anti-dumping case. As India refuses to grant China a full market economy status, a factor used in judging anti-dumping cases, the production costs offered by Chinese companies are not accepted when calculating a normal value, which means Chinese hopes of proving their products were not sold under the normal value are slim.

Wang said the Chamber of Commerce will collect more information and deliver them to the companies. "If necessary, we will send a group to India," he said.

And the co-operation with Indian importers will be useful as they oppose the manufacturers' move, Wang added.

Most Chinese exports of silk into India are for re-export. Exporters have to import silk yarn and fabric from China as these are more competitively priced and are of much better quality than what is available locally.

Indian Silk Export Promotion Council Chairman Bimal Mawandia said earlier that there is no justification for imposing an anti-dumping duty on silk imports, as this has only made the raw material for exporters more costly.

Before the Indian Government decided to start the anti-dumping case, the Indian exporters submitted a memorandum favouring the withdrawal of existing anti-dumping duties, believing that another anti-dumping measure against China will make Indian exports extremely uncompetitive.

The Indian Commerce Ministry set a base price of US$27.98 per kilogram for Chinese imports of mulberry raw silk of 2A grade and below took effect from July 2003.

Earlier this year, 28 major silk exporters formed a group to watch and co-ordinate exports, appealing to companies to stop what it considered bad practices.

The major task of the group was to try to persuade India not to file the anti-dumping case, said Lu Xing, deputy general manager of Cathaya International Holding Co in Zhejiang Province, a large silk exporter.

The alliance effectively stopped the issuing of lower-valued invoices to Indian importers, which enables them to avoid paying tax, Lu said.

The price of silk fabric exports to India keeps rising because of the higher labour and raw material costs. According to the Chamber of Commerce, the average price was US$1.71 per metre in 2004, rising 22.42 per cent year-on-year.