China 'confident' about hitting 6pc trade growth target despite gloomy indicators
Gao Hucheng says mainland commerce is bouncing back after a bad start to the year but warns global economic climate remains challenging
China is confident of meeting this year's trade growth target of 6 per cent despite lingering weakness in global demand, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said yesterday.
Although the global economic climate is unlikely to see significant improvements this year, external trade demand will likely see slight growth, Gao said at a press conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress meetings.
Declining prices of imported goods was to blame for the slump in the value of imports, Gao said. He added that there were no signs that energy, resources and agricultural commodity prices would rebound.
Despite the glum outlook, Gao said trade figures would likely be in the black in March. "We are confident of achieving the 6 per cent growth target," he said.
Total trade slumped at the start of the year, falling well short of market expectations. China's exports and imports sank 10.8 per cent year on year in January to 2.1 trillion yuan (HK$2.6 trillion), signalling a slide in foreign and domestic demand.
