Granting market economy status to China would be "disastrous" for UK and European workers, according to union Unite.

The organisation is calling on EU manufacturing unions to back its opposition to the move after stating it would "open the floodgates" to a "tsunami" of cheap Chinese steel.

The steel industry has been affected badly by cheap imports from China, creating thousands of job losses at Tata Steel and dragging steel prices down due to falling demand.

Speaking at the IndustriALL Europe congress in Madrid on Wednesday, assistant general secretary, Tony Burke, said: "We do this, not to attack Chinese workers and their future, but because there is a very clear danger that granting market economy status to China will have a massive impact on manufacturing in the UK and rest of Europe.

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"'Zombie' companies in China are producing goods lower that it costs to produce them with no end in sight to this over production and dumping. This is most acute in the steel industry where cheap Chinese steel has had a significant impact on the UK steel industry and has created job losses and significant uncertainty.

"It is not just Unite in the UK which is opposed to market economy status for China. The British TUC has expressed its opposition, the European TUC, unions in America and Canada, as well as the European parliament which recently voted against market economy status for China.

"A decision to grant market economy status to China would be disastrous for workers in the UK and Europe."

(LM/MH)