BEIJING -- China will levy anti-dumping duties on imports of polyformaldehyde copolymer originating in the United States, the European Union, China's Taiwan region, and Japan from May 19 for a period of five years, the commerce ministry said in a statement Sunday.

An investigation has shown that imports of polyformaldehyde copolymer from the above regions have involved dumping, which caused substantial damage to the polyformaldehyde copolymer industry in the Chinese mainland, according to the ministry.

Anti-dumping duty rates will range from 3.8 percent to 74.9 percent, it said.

Polyformaldehyde copolymer is primarily used in sectors including auto parts, electronic appliances, industrial machinery, sports equipment and medical equipment to partially replace copper, zinc, tin, lead and other metal materials.