China's foreign trade to improve this year: spokesman

BEIJING - China's foreign trade for 2013 will be better than that of last year despite uncertainties, a General Administration of Customs spokesman said on Thursday.

Spokesman Zheng Yuesheng said global economies have launched stimulus policies to prevent growth rates from slumping, adding that China's domestic efforts to boost the growth of foreign trade will have more visible effects this year.

The export managers index for December stood at 34.2 percent, up 2.1 percentage points from November and marking the first rebound since June, Zheng said.

China will still face a hostile foreign trade environment as a result of sluggish demand, increasing production costs, fewer orders and trade protectionism, Zheng said.

China's exports rose 7.9 percent in 2012 from the previous year, while imports climbed 4.3 percent year on year, the General Administration of Customs said Thursday.

The foreign trade surplus widened to $231.1 billion last year, 48.1 percent greater than that of 2011.

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