China began levying anti-dumping duties on printing paper imports from Europe, the United States and Japan on August 10, said the Ministry of Commerce.

The measure came after a preliminary investigation launched by the ministry last December showed that companies in the three regions were dumping printing paper in China, which harmed the country's domestic printing paper industry.

The anti-dumping duty rates were set in a range from 17.6 percent to 28.8 percent, depending on the level of dumping, said the ministry.