BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has hinted at a possible legal challenge to US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations of steel exports from China.

"China will encourage and support its steel companies to defend themselves according to law, and China will safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its steel companies using World Trade Organization rules," according to a statement issued by the MOC on Saturday after the United States announced the investigations on Friday.

The MOC said that trade remedy measures were "not the solution to global steel overcapacity" and "will hinder normal global trade."