BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- China appreciates India's decision to terminate a trade investigation into Chinese-made passenger car tires, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Saturday.

    The decision would not only help boost the steady development of bilateral trade ties, but also benefit the downstream businesses of India, the MOC said in a statement on its website.

    China hoped to increase exchanges and cooperation on trade issues with the Indian government and encouraged dialogue and cooperation among industries for mutual benefit, it said.

    The Directorate General of Safeguards under India's Ministry of Finance initiated a safeguard investigation on passenger car tire imports from China in May, according to the statement.

    A safeguard duty, a temporary relief, usually takes the form of increased duties to higher than bound rate or standard rates or quantitative restrictions on imports.

    According to Indian government statistics, from April to December last year, India imported 20 million U.S. dollars worth of tires involved in the case from China.