BEIJING -- The latest trade frictions between China and the European Union (EU) do not amount to a trade war, said Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Yao Jian on Tuesday.

It's not surprising for China and the EU to have trade disputes as the two sides have maintained large trade volumes over the past years, said Yao at a routine press release.

"For some products, there might be a lasting legal disputes. But the total dispute ratio will be very low between 1 to 3 percent," he said.

Related readings:  China protests EU first anti-subsidy duties  China's 2011 trade surplus may drop to $100b  China calls for easing of trade frictions with Argentina  China-EU trade on solid ground

Yao's remarks came after the EU slapped its first-ever anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on coated fine paper imported from China and China found that EU members had subsidized domestic production of potato starch exported to China.

Yao reiterated China's protest against the EU's anti-subsidy decision on coated fine paper and questioned its practices to use evidence from a substitute country and reject information from Chinese enterprises.

As for the country's investigation into the potato starch from the EU, he explained that it was at the request of the China Starch Industry, which represents 98 percent of the industry's output.

"The investigation, which lasted two and a half months, was in line with China's laws and WTO rules. We also adopted data from the EU enterprises," he added.

The country said in an initial ruling that it will impose an anti-subsidy provision of the tariff on potato starch products imported from the EU effective from May 19, according to the MOC.