China will adopt long-term measures to promote imports, Yao Jian, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said at the ministry's monthly news conference Tuesday, China Business News reported today.

Related readings:  China's 2011 trade surplus may drop to $100b  Economist says China trade surplus will dip in 2011

"Earlier, the Ministry of Commerce had proposed the implementation of measures to promote imports and has begun research jointly with the relevant departments of the State Council, policy-making departments, market supervision department and authorities at import and export ports,” Yao told the newspaper on the sidelines of the news conference.

"It will be a long-term policy throughout the whole 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period,” Yao said.

One source, identified only as being knowledgeable about the issue, told the newspaper that detailed rules on the expansion of imports have been documented and are awaiting approval from the State Council.