Nation's foreign trade is on track, says economist

Editor's note: The latest trade figures show that China's export growth has been slowing down in recent months, thanks to rising costs and shrinking overseas demand. Meanwhile, some exporters are complaining about falling profit margins due to yuan appreciation. Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, gives China Daily reporter Wang Xu his opinion on China's international trade.

Q: What do you think about the overall foreign trade situation in the first half?

A: As a whole, the foreign trade sector is developing on track as we expected. First of all, exports maintained a brisk growth, although slowing down a bit. Meanwhile, the growth of trade surplus has declined, just as we expected. At the same time, there are several key issues, which need to be noted. First, the profit margin of some export enterprises have been falling due to the rising yuan and labor cost. Meanwhile, weakening US market has been a serious test for some export companies.