In the first half of the year, authorities in the southern boomtown of Guangzhou seized 1,146 tonnes of smuggled newsprint worth 6.67 million yuan ($800,000), the official Xinhua news agency said.

"Some companies in the United States, Canada and the Republic of Korea have sold newsprint abroad" for prices $120 to $180 cheaper per tonne than at home, Xinhua said.

The alleged dumping has pushed average import prices down to $350 per tonne in 1997 compared with $649 per tonne in 1995, it said.

China's newsprint imports have also soared to 356,000 tonnes in 1996 from 49,000 tonnes in 1995, it said. Imports have continued to increase in 1997 and 1998, it said without giving further details.

China announced in July that it would take anti-dumping action for the first time over the newsprint row.

A final ruling, likely to target the United States, Canada and South Korea, would be announced after an investigation by the ministry of foreign trade and economic cooperation and the cabinet's state economic and trade commission, state media have said without giving a timetable.