GENEVA, Dec 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The EU has dropped a case at the WTO against China over its restrictions on imports of Lithuanian goods, which it believed was retribution over the Baltic state strengthening ties with Taiwan.

The European Union launched in 2022 a complaint against China, saying the trade restrictions imposed over health reasons that caused Lithuanian exports to drop by 80 percent that year were not justified.

In a statement dated November 28 but distributed on Monday at the World Trade Organization, the European Union said that it no longer considers it necessary to pursue the complaint against China as "the key objectives behind this dispute have been met and relevant trade has resumed".

Lithuania -- the first nation to declare independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s -- prompted a furious response from Beijing when it allowed Taiwan in July 2021 to open a diplomatic outpost in Vilnius under its own name.

China's ruling Communist Party does not recognise Taiwan as a state, and considers the self-ruled democratic island as a breakaway province.

Beijing had denied taking coercive measures against Lithuania.

The EU said the decision to terminate the complaint did not change its views regarding the matter and that it would monitor the situation.