'Gloomy' trade prospects seen amid restructuring

China's foreign trade ran into difficulties last year, with imports and exports both experiencing year-on-year declines.

Despite encouraging figures last month, the trade picture for this year remains gloomy, according to Customs data released on Wednesday.

"The double decrease in imports and exports is due to the economic slowdown and weak demand throughout the world," said General Administration of Customs spokesman Huang Songping.