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Foreign trade will continue to be an important factor in helping China maintain economic growth, despite declining exports in the second half of 2011 and gloomy prospects for the coming months, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.
The International Monetary Fund said Monday that China's economic expansion may drop to 8.25 percent this year, from a previously projected 9 percent, should Europe's debt crisis worsen. Exports would be a significant drag on economic expansion in the next two years, the IMF said.
Zhang Ji, director general of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Mechanic, Electronic and High-tech Industry, said China will try to maintain "continuance and stability" in its processing industry, a significant part of Chinas foreign trade.
In 2011, Chinas 110,000 processing companies generated 40 million jobs. According to the General Administration of Customs, Chinas processing industry grew by 12.7 percent in 2011 from a year earlier to $1.3 trillion, accounting for 35.8 percent of the nations foreign trade during the same period.
China's exports have been on the decline since late last year. The IMF predicted Chinese exports in January may drop 1.4 percent from a year earlier. Figures on the Chinas foreign trade are due to be released on Friday. |
