MoC warns of further fall in foreign trade

Thanks to the recovery in the US and Europe, and with developing economies continuing to outpace developed economies in terms of GDP growth, global trade is expected to grow by 4.7 percent in 2014, compared with 2.1 percent in 2013, according to the World Trade Organization.

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"While there is a stable global demand and the upgrading in China continues it is possible for China to maintain a better performance in global trade," said Shen.

Nonetheless, Song Hong, an economist at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, cautioned that the phasing-out of quantitative easing in the US will affect some emerging economies, such as Turkey and Indonesia.

"The influence of fluctuating capital flows in emerging countries may expand into China's foreign trade performance because emerging economies are important Chinese trading partners," Song said.

At the same time, as a manufacturing power, encouraging a mild recovery is also challenging the government's guiding and supporting policies.

In the first quarter, the total processing trade dropped 8 percent to 1.87 trillion yuan compared with the same period last year.

"The processing trade has been playing a significant role in increasing employment, increasing the number of industries and promoting economic development," said Shen.

Shen said the ministry is conducting research among manufacturers and experts in a bid to ramp up measures to maintain steady growth and accelerate the restructuring of the processing trade.

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