By IANS,
Beijing : The Chinese government Wednesday issued a white paper on foreign trade, highlighting the country’s achievements in boosting foreign trade and its contribution to the world economy.
China has been the world’s largest exporter and second-largest importer for two consecutive years by the end of 2010, said the white paper, released by the Information Office of the State Council.
China’s foreign trade has achieved considerable progress in recent years. The total value of its imports and exports reached $2.97 trillion in 2010, 144 times as much as in 1978, averaging an annual growth of 16.8 percent, reported Xinhua.
The country saw an increasing number of trading partners and gradually formed a diversified import and export market.
The white paper noted that China’s foreign trade development has not only “greatly pushed forward the country’s modernization drive”, but also brought benefits to the world as multinationals grew rapidly through investing in China.
China has honoured its WTO commitments over the past decade by expanding market access, accelerating trade and investment facilitation and liberalization, reducing trade barriers and administrative interventions and deepening reforms of its foreign trade system, the paper said.