China's foreign trade of electronic and machinery products is expected to hit US$780 billion this year, growing 25 percent year on year, the International Business Daily quoted an official with the Ministry of Commerce as saying.

Li Minglin, director of the Machinery and Electronic Product Import and Export Department under the ministry, also predicted China's process trade this year to hit US$690 billion, up 25 percent.

As a main driving force of China's foreign trade, the trade of electronic and machinery products will continue to grow stably, thanks to a domestic investment rise and further opening of the Chinese market, he said.

Although China's export of electronic and machinery products is growing robustly, unstable factors such as fluctuations in the international trade structure, raw material supply shortages and a Renminbi exchange rate change will have a negative impact, he said.

China's innovation capacity in this area is still weak, lacking independent property rights and core technologies, he said.

In the next five years, China will optimize its industrial structure and encourage the export of machinery and electronic products with high technology and independent intellectual property rights, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2005)