China downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic state and suspended consular services after the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania opened on November 18.

The Lithuanian government asked the European Commission for "a strong reaction" on Monday after Chinese customs dropped Lithuania from its list of cargo origin countries, stopping all exports from the country.

"Lithuania is again on the customs list, so export procedures have resumed," said Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.

"But cargoes from and to Lithuania now face extended customs procedures, they are given the lowest priority, and the Chinese partners intimate to us this is because of politics, because of Taiwan," he added.

In the letter seen by Reuters, Lithuania's government called China's move an "economic coercion conducted through various channels, in clear breach of international norms".

The Chinese Office of the Charge d'Affairs in Vilnius did not immediately comment on the report.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda had previously told reporters, "I regret this decision by the Chinese authorities".

China views self-ruled Taiwan as its territory with no rights as a state.

Other Taiwanese offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city of Taipei, avoiding any reference to the island itself.

Australian Associated Press