“Goal for foreign trade growth can be achieved”

China’s better-than-expected trade growth in the first quarter signals an improving environment for the second quarter and full-year trade growth of 10 percent， the Ministry of Commerce said on Apr. 17.

Foreign trade expanded 7.3 percent in the first quarter， reflecting many factors including slack overseas demand， rising domestic costs and trade friction， Shen Danyang， spokesman for the ministry， told a regular news conference.

“It is worth noting that the growth achievement in the first quarter was not easy， since the country was adjusting its trade structure and pursuing balanced trade.

“The growth rate， which is better than expected， shows that measures to stabilize trade are taking effect and the continuous slowdown in trade growth since August has been halted.

“Take steps to boost imports”

China should take concrete steps to expand imports and cut tariffs quickly， as the deceleration of import growth is raising economic concerns， Wei Jianguo， former deputy minister of commerce， said in an interview with China Daily.

Compared with weak exports，“a continuous slowdown of import growth is what industry insiders are more concerned about”， said Wei， who is also secretary-general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges， a top government think-tank.