"This case is important for most WTO members. The world's most powerful economies, including all G7 members, have joined forces against China's unlawful actions that threaten the entire international trading system," Lithuania's top diplomat said in a press release.
This is an act of "unprecedented solidarity of the world's major democracies with Lithuania", he added.
The United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan have taken the opportunity to apply to join the EU-China consultations, according to the press release.
In Landsbergis' words, the broad involvement and attention to the EU-China case clearly shows that China's unlawful trade restrictions challenge the entire international trade system and that politically motivated economic coercion is unacceptable.
Relations between Lithuania and China turned sour after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to call its representative office "Taiwanese" rather than "Taipei's". This angered Beijing which considers the island part of its territory.
Last November, China officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania to the level of chargé d’affaires. As the diplomatic row escalated, Lithuanian businesses said they were facing various trade restrictions from China, which Vilnius officials described as "undeclared sanctions".
By going to the WTO, the EU supported complaints by Lithuanian business leaders and officials that the row has resulted in China blocking imports from Lithuania and other economic restrictions.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the request for consultations is the first stage of the WTO's mandatory litigation process, which gives the two sides 60 days to come to a solution before moving the dispute to a panel.
If no mutually acceptable solution is found within 60 days, the EU will request the establishment of a WTO arbitration panel and thus start legal proceedings.
However, experts say that the dispute may drag on and quick solutions are unlikely.