China’s imports and exports of cargo trade has been growing steadily since the beginning of this year， though with the growth at the low level， said the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The GAC data showed that， in the first-half， China’s foreign trade reached$1.84 trillion， up 8% year on year， among which， the exports totaled $954.38 billion， up 9.2%， and imports hit $885.46 billion， up 6.7%， with the trade surplus of $68.92 billion， rising 56.4%. The 8% growth was lower than the 10-percent increase targeted by the government for the whole of 2012.

In June， the total value of China’s foreign trade stood at $328.69 billion， up 9%， among which， exports amounted to$180.21 billion， up 11.3%， slowing from the 15.3% spurt in May， and imports rose to $148.48 billion， up 6.3%， with the surplus of 31.73 billion， up 42.9%.

According to the GAC spokesman Zheng Yuesheng at the press conference， the data indicates that， against the backdrop of the global final crisis and the economy restructuring and transition of the foreign trade modes， China’s foreign trade has the following features in the first-half.

Foreign trade rebounded mildly in the second quarter. In this quarter， the total value， exports value and imports value rose by 8.6%， 10.5% and 6.5% respectively. Compared with the first quarter， the total value rose by 14.1%， with the growth rate up 1.3%.

Besides， modes of trade saw better structure with general trade up and processing trade down. In the first-half， the value of China’s general trade reached$975.09 billion， up 8.9%， accounting for 53% of China’s total foreign trade value， up 0.4% year on year. While， the processing trade accounts for 35% of the total. Compared with the processing trade， general trade， featured with longer domestic industrial chain and higher added value， reflects to some extent the improvement of China’s foreign trade modes with its increasing ratio.

China’s diversification of trade partners is also continuing. The growth almost stagnated with the EU and Japan， but steadily grew with emerging markets. In the first-half， the bilateral Sino-EU trade valued at $267.82 bil-lion， up only 0.7%; $162 billion with Japan， down 0.2%; and $231.12 billion with the USA， up 11.9%. The ASEAN remains China’s third largest trade partner. Meanwhile， the growth of exports to Russia and South Africa was higher than China’s average.

Another change is that subjects of trade saw more rational composition: faster growth in private enterprises and small ratio of foreign-funded enterprises. In the first-half， the foreign trade of private enterprises jumped by 19%， while the foreign-funded enterprises up 4%.

And exports varied across China: sharp rise in the Midwest and steady growth in the East. In the first-half， the growth of exports in Chongqing， Henan， Sichuan and Jiangxi was 250%， 91.6%， 74.7% and 54.1% respectively， much higher than China’s everage.

Structure of exported commodities was also optimized. The mechanical and electrical products rose fast and traditional labor-intensive products covered smaller ratio. Exports of machinery and electronics posted an increase of 10.5% to$550.25 billion， accounting for 57.7% of the total exports in the first-half.

Moreover， structure of imported commodities changed favorably: energy and resource products and consumption goods rose sharply. Trade price terms turned benign: import price kept sliding and price of some major commodities dropped.

Though the general development of China’s foreign trade tends to stabilize at the low level， the basis on which the imports and exports may rebound is not stable， due to the restrictions of such factors as shrinking external demand and rising domestic costs， said Zheng.

The GAC’s survey， based on over 1，800 export enterprises， also showed that Exporting Managers Index was 36.2， below the threshold line of 50， suggesting that China’s foreign trade still faces an unoptimistic future.

In the next half of the this year， China’s foreign trade development shall confront many uncertainties， according to Zheng.

At present， the steady growth of China’s exports still faces arduous challenges. The underlying impact of the global financial crisis， the slow recovery of global economy， the serious debt of major economies， high unemployment and downturn of consumption desire…all of these add to the challenges.

Since the beginning of this year， China slowed down the economic growth initiatively， which resulted in mounting pressure of economic downturn and diminishing domestic demand. In the first 5 months， China’s actual use of foreign capital dropped by 1.9%.

Further， due to the rising costs， including the labor cost， RMB exchange and financing， products of China’s export enterprises are suffering from weakened price competitiveness and shrinking international market share.

In addition， during the financial crisis， the EU， the USA and other major economies carried out protectionism in terms of endless and various trade barriers， which spread quickly to the emerging markets.

Despite the more complex and arduous challenges facing China’s foreign trade， China’s core competitive advantages in manufacturing are not likely to change in near future， and a series of policies and measures aimed at stabilizing growth and promoting imports shall take effect gradually.

“Provided that the world economy， especially the eurozone debt crisis is not to deteriorate， China’s foreign trade is expected to achieve the set goal of 10% growth，” said Zheng.