BEIJING (Reuters) – China expanded on Friday its anti-subsidy investigation into dairy imports from the European Union to include EU subsidy programmes as well as those in Denmark, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

The world’s second-largest economy launched the investigation into imports of some cheese, milk and cream from the European Union in August, in response to the bloc’s tariff plan for China-made electric vehicles.

New EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese EV imports took effect on Oct. 30, with China urging some governments of EU members to nudge the European Commission towards a solution acceptable to both European and Chinese electric vehicle industries.

On Friday, China’s commerce ministry said the addition followed a preliminary review and took into account the claims made by EU members and consultations with EU representatives.

“The European Union and its member governments also provided 13 other subsidies to the relevant dairy industries in the EU,” it said in a statement.

The expansion covers programs such as agricultural promotion, insurance, and investment subsidies.

The EU was China’s second-largest source of dairy products, behind only New Zealand, Chinese customs data shows.

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu and Ella Cao; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Clarence Fernandez)