The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on November 1 released the Report on China's Foreign Trade Situation (Autumn, 2010), providing an overview of the country's trade landscape.

After braving serious fallout last year, both imports and exports have returned to a steady growth course.

Looking ahead, foreign trade will maintain a promising course in the coming months as the world economy recoups its strength, said the MOFCOM report.

The report predicts that China's foreign trade will stand at $2.8 trillion in 2010, up 25 percent from the previous year.

In 2011, foreign trade is expected to grow, but at a slower pace given uncertainties such as a stronger yuan (Chinese currency) and simmering trade protectionism.

On September 16, the EU launched an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese-made wireless wide area networking (WWAN) modems, involving around $4.1 billion worth of exports. This was the largest trade remedy investigation China has ever experienced.

"Worse still, recovery of the developed world is losing momentum in part due to a fragile financial industry and the impact of the European debt crisis," the report stated. "Restocking is also slowing down in the emerging economies where the impact of inflation and asset bubbles is taking hold."

Domestically, exporters are coming under heavier cost pressures due to labor cost inflation and price increases for raw materials, said the report. It is therefore necessary to implement further measures to promote exports and encourage imports, especially advanced technologies.