China's foreign trade volume is expected to exceed US$1,000 billion this year, said an official with the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing Wednesday.

Wang Qinhua, director of the MOC Bureau for Industrial Damage Investigations, made the prediction at an international seminar on the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda.

China's foreign trade volume was US$851.2 billion last year, up 37.1 percent year-on-year and ranking fourth in the world, following the United States, Germany and Japan. In the first half of this year, it reached US$523 billion, up 39.1 percent year-on-year.

The current vigorous US economy was a "very good signal" for the world economy. The world economic growth was expected to hit 4.7 percent this year, also a "good indication", she said.

Meanwhile, China has strictly implemented its commitments to the World Trade Organization since its entry into the WTO two-and-half years ago, gradually decreasing tariffs, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights and further opening to the outside world.

"All of these contributed to the fast growth of China's imports and exports," Wang said.

However, China's foreign trade was still facing difficulties, she said, naming the domestic industries' blunt international competitive edge, weak anti-risk capability, structural disadvantage, trade conflicts with and trade protectionism in its trade partners.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2004)