BEIJING - A final ruling by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Friday that European Union members have subsidized potato starch exports to China, which has hurt the interests of China's domestic producers.

China will impose duties ranging 7.5 to 12.4 percent on imports of potato starch from the EU to counter the subsidies, according to an announcement on the ministry's website.

The MOC launched an anti-subsidy probe into the EU potato starch exports on August 30, 2010, at the request of the China Starch Industry Association.

The probe focused on whether the EU members subsidized exports of potato starch to China, and if so to what extent the subsidies had harmed domestic industries.

It was China's first-ever anti-subsidy probe into imports from the EU. The preliminary ruling came out on May 16.

China has imposed anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 12.6 to 56.7 percent on EU potato starch products since April 19.