Efforts needed to meet 8% trade target

BEIJING - Strenuous efforts are needed if China is to meet its 8-percent trade growth goal as grim circumstances continue both home and abroad, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman said Tuesday.

China is facing pressures from flagging external demand, rising overall costs at home and cutthroat competition externally, Shen Danyang told a monthly press conference.

In the first 10 months, China's total trade volume rose 7.6 percent from a year earlier, lower than the full-year target of 8 percent, customs data showed.

Shen said the recovery of external demand was still uncertain, as the International Monetary Fund has cut its global economic growth forecast to 2.9 percent from the previous 3.1 percent.

Domestic companies are still haunted by rising costs, partly due to the rapid appreciation of China's currency renminbi, or the yuan, cutting into their profitability, the spokesman said.

The yuan's real effective exchange rate, a weighted average of exchange rates against other currencies, surged 6.63 percent during the first nine months, Shen said.

Chinese exporters also face rising labor costs, while many small- and medium-sized companies find it difficult or expensive to obtain loans.

Shen also said China has to meet increasing competition from other emerging economies and developing countries, which are stepping up efforts of developing their export-driven sectors. These countries include Russia, Brazil and India among others.

"With strenuous efforts, it will not be totally impossible to attain the goal of 8-percent trade growth," Shen said.