BEIJING China said on Thursday it would not impose tariffs on brandy imported from the European Union despite an anti-dumping investigation it opened in January determining dumping had taken place, giving both sides room to breathe in tense trade talks.

China's commerce ministry said in a statement it had found that European distillers had been selling brandy into its 1.4 billion-strong consumer market at a margin in the range of 30.6% to 39.0% and that its domestic industry had been damaged.

China has been canvassing the bloc's 27 member states to reject the European Commission's proposal to adopt additional duties of up to 36.3% on Chinese-made electric vehicles in an October vote, and the decision not to impose tariffs on brandy could be seen as helpful to its case.

Shares in French spirit makers Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard jumped about 8% after the announcement.

Trade in Italy's Campari was automatically halted in Milan after the stock rose 4.5%.

Pernod Ricard maintains a "prudent" outlook on China despite the country's decision not to impose provisional anti-dumping tariffs, Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Ricard said.

Ricard declined to comment in detail about the decision, which was announced while he hosted the company's annual results presentation.

As well as the brandy probe, Beijing has opened anti-subsidy investigations into dairy and pork products from the EU in recent months.

The dairy probe was launched last week, the day after Brussels published its revised tariff plan for Chinese-made EVs.