China slammed European Union anti-dumping measures on imports of leather shoes as illegal Thursday and threatened retaliation, as Vietnam complained it will pay a high price in lost earnings and jobs.

"The anti-dumping measures taken by the EU against Chinese leather shoes lack a legal basis and factual evidence and harm the rights of Chinese leather shoe manufacturers," Chong Quan, commerce ministry spokesman said in a statement.

"The Chinese side will closely watch this issue and see how it develops and will maintain the right to take corresponding measures."

Chong said the EU case, its investigation into the dumping of the shoes as well as the adjudication process did not conform with anti-dumping regulations of either the EU or the World Trade Organization.

The European Union on Wednesday adopted, by the narrowest of majorities, the new anti-dumping measures to tackle the leather shoe imports from China and Vietnam.

The vote to adopt the measures for two years resulted in a 13 to 12 majority in the 25-nation EU, diplomatic sources in Brussels said.

The new anti-dumping measures come into force on October 7, with import duties of 16.5 percent on Chinese shoes with leather uppers, in place of the current temporary duty of 19.4 percent.

The tariff on the same kind of shoes from Vietnam will be 10 percent in place of the current temporary duty of 16.8 percent.

Nguyen Gia Thao, president of Vietnam's Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO), was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying there had not been any "violations of international trade rules" to justify the levies.

The final cost has yet to be calculated, VNA said, but "it is certain that it will affect the jobs of between 60,000 and 70,000 workers in the industry and some small-scale enterprises will face bankruptcy.

"The EU's anti-dumping measures will not only cause difficulties ... for more than half a million Vietnamese workers ... in the leather and shoe industry, but also for many others whose jobs service the industry and who are already living under the poverty line," it said, citing the industry group.

China's Chong said that his government had noted that the new import duty on the leather shoes was lower than the existing temporary tax and that the tariffs would only be enforced for two years instead of five years.

But, "Chinese enterprises in the industry express dissatisfaction in the latest decision," he said.

Brussels stressed that the tariffs will only apply to shoes with leather uppers which account for around one in 10 pairs sold in the European Union.

Last year China exported 1.2 billion pairs of shoes to EU countries, 145 million of which were hit by the provisional anti-dumping measures. For Vietnam the EU import figure was 265 million pairs, 80 million of which were affected.

China exported 6.9 billion pairs of shoes to over 200 countries and regions last year, reaping a total revenue of 19 billion dollars, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.