China has called on the European Union to work with it to jointly address global iron and steel overcapacity instead of resorting to trade protectionism that will have a further negative impact on the global iron and steel industry, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference, ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said in response to the EU's latest anti-dumping measures against Chinese iron and steel exporters that overcapacity in the sector is a global problem which could only be solved through dialogue and cooperation.

"The Chinese government and iron and steel companies have been working to accelerate structural adjustment and keep overtly high production capacity down. The increase in the output has been taken under control. The competition mechanism has eliminated some smelters," said Shen.