In the first three quarters of 2011, China's exports totaled $1.39 trillion, growing 22.7 percent year on year, while imports climbed 26.7 percent to reach $1.29 trillion, according to data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC). The trade surplus stood at $107.1 billion.

In September alone, exports went up 17.1 percent to $169.67 billion, while imports amounted to $155.16 billion, up 20.9 percent from a year ago. The trade surplus dropped 12.4 percent from the previous year to $14.51 billion.

"China's foreign trade is experiencing a gradual slowdown as clouds gather over the Western economies," said Lu Peijun, Vice Minister of the GAC. "Meanwhile, faster appreciation of the yuan and capital shortages of smaller exporters have rubbed salt into wounds of the export sector. Worse still, trade protectionism is worsening in many advanced markets."

"We don't expect China's exports to collapse as sharply as they did at the end of 2008, but risks are definitely skewed to a further moderation in external demand in coming months," said Brian Jackson, an emerging markets strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong.

But Lu Zhengwei, chief economist with the Industrial Bank Ltd., believed the debt woes in Western countries would have a limited impact on China's economy.

"China has been relying less on exports as a growth engine," he said. "Moreover, much of Chinese exports to those countries are daily necessities, and the demands will be resilient."