China is facing an even more severe export situation featuring withered demand and harsher competition this year， Deputy Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said on Jan. 9.

Zhong said other major exporters will continue providing strong competition for China， and some developing countries are capturing market share in labor-intensive industries as domestic labor costs rise in China.

Zhong said the decline of market share had hit producers of the country’s seven major varieties of labor-intensive products: textiles， apparel， shoes， cases， furniture， toys and plastic products.

“2012 trade deficit is likely”

China is likely to face a trade deficit in 2012， partly driven by the deteriorating eurozone crisis and a possible debt default by Greece， economists warned on Jan. 9.

Stephane Deo， managing director of European Economic Research with UBS AG， said China’s 2011 exports to the European Union (EU) registered the worst performance among the country’s main trading partners. The high likelihood of a default by debt-ridden Greece， which some analysts predict will happen in March， will further drag down the trade volume， making the first quarter the toughest for Chinese exports.