THE European Union's anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoes are likely to affect footwear trade at the 99th China Export Commodities Fair which opens tomorrow in Guangzhou, the organizer said yesterday.

"As the EU has decided to impose tentative duties on Chinese shoes, most European buyers will be cautious when they place an order," said Xu Bing, spokesman with the organizing committee of the fair.

Altogether 946 Chinese footwear makers were present at the 98th fair last October and they struck deals worth US$850 million, he told a press conference in Guangzhou, capital of the booming southern province of Guangdong.

Xu said China and EU have maintained steady trade growth in recent years and EU businesses reached the largest number of trade deals at the previous fair.

The Chinese Export Commodities Fair, a biannual event launched in 1957, is dubbed the bellwether of the country's foreign trade.

The European Commission announced in late March that it would place anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam, despite the fact that only three countries voted in favor of the tariffs, 10 voted against and 11 abstained.