China has moved forward with a complaint at the World Trade Organization that alleges the European Union has improperly set anti-subsidy tariffs on new Chinese-made electric vehicles.

Chinese officials said on Monday it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the European Union over proposed tariffs on its electrical vehicles.

Fears of a widening tariff war between China and other major exporting nations are keeping diplomacy between the world's second-largest economy and the European Union alive, even as trade talks over electric vehicles stall.