China's Ministry of Commerce said Saturday it has decided to extend anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into US-made off-road vehicles and sedans with an engine displacement of 2.0 liters and above.

The extension is for six months, until May 6, 2011, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The ministry made the decision because the two cases are "special" and "complicated," the statement said without elaborating.

China launched the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes on Nov. 6, 2009, after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers complained that US carmakers had unfairly benefited from 31 government subsidy programs.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2010)