China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday urged Malaysia to be cautious and restrained in choosing to adopt trade remedy measures against Chinese steel products.
"We hope Malaysia will take into consideration the sound cooperation in our steel sectors and the fact that Chinese steel has contributed to Malaysia's construction and manufacturing boom," a ministry statement said.
The statement came in after Malaysia began to investigate screw thread steel and wire rod imported from China.
China hopes the investigation will be fair and transparent, and Chinese exporters are guaranteed the rights to defend themselves, the statement said.
As the world's largest steel consumer and producer, China calls for unity in tackling the crisis in global steel market, saying protectionism will only compound the problems.