Bigger role for private companies

Private business is taking a larger role in China's foreign trade, which represents significant progress toward the country's goal of improving the structure and quality of its trade, experts said.

"Since China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, private enterprises have played an increasingly significant role in the nation's foreign trade.

"They have been actively expanding their sales networks and building their brands, so the positive impact of the change will be broader," said Song Hong, an economist at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.