China trade likely strong in remainder of year, says commerce ministry
But commerce ministry reckons Beijing's annual trade target may be missed for a second year
Chinese trade growth is likely to rebound further over the remainder of the year after a bounce in July, the Ministry of Commerce forecast yesterday, even as it warned that the economy might fail to achieve its government-set target for trade growth.
"Global demand has been improving steadily. This, along with further implementation of a series of steps rolled out by the State Council to facilitate trade, is likely to help the growth of exports and imports to stabilise further in the second half," ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters in Beijing.
Global demand has been improving steadily. This, along with further implementation of a series of steps rolled out by the State Council to facilitate trade, is likely to help the growth of exports and imports to stabilise further in the second half
Trade in August was expected to maintain its "relatively good" trend after the rebound in July, driven by a pick-up in domestic demand and a gradual recovery in the world economy, he said.
China's exports rose 5.1 per cent year on year in July, reversing a 3.1 per cent year-on-year decline in June. Imports grew 10.9 per cent, compared with a 0.7 per cent fall in the previous month.
But Shen warned against being optimistic, saying that the economy might miss its annual trade growth target for a second year.
The country's 8 per cent growth target for trade set earlier this year was "merely a forecast rather than a binding task", because the goal had not been included in the government's work report submitted to lawmakers' annual congress in March, he said.