Commerce minister: Growth to remain on firm footing

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said China is capable of putting its economic growth on a firmer footing despite the fact that no exact growth target for foreign trade was set out in the Government Work Report this year.

Even though China did not achieve its growth target for foreign trade last year due to sluggish global demand and falling commodity prices, Gao said the decline in the nation's export growth rate was far lower than that of other major economies.

This is the fourth time in the past 20 years that China has not set a specific target for its foreign trade growth.