Although the industry and public opinion are worried about China's foreign trade situation in the second half of this year, the Chinese commerce minister is optimistic about this.

Chen Deming said here today that China's import and export will remain at a stable level in the second half of this year.

According to customs statistics, China's imports and exports grew by twenty-five point seven percent over the first half of last year.

Among them, the export growth was twenty-one point nine percent, a marked decline compared with the past.

In June, the export growth rate was seventeen point six percent, except for February, the first time the export growth fell to twenty percent within the normal period.

In an interview with reporters, Chen Deming said frankly that China's exports are under pressure, especially for countries such as the United States, which are relatively affected by the financial crisis. Exports have declined rapidly, although statistics show that there are still several percentage points of growth. If considering price factors, the volume of exports has not increased or even decreased.

He pointed out that the state has made timely policy adjustments to the labor-intensive industries.

Since August 1st, the export tax rebate of some textiles and garments has increased by two percentage points.

Chen Deming said that although it only raised two percentage points, it released a signal that the state still supports exports of labor-intensive products.

Chen Deming stressed that the fundamentals of China's economy are good, and that the import and export of the second half of this year will remain at a stable level.

Li Yushi, vice president of the international trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, predicted that China's exports will grow by about 10% this year.

As for the slowdown in export growth, Chen Deming believes that in a sense, it is also a good opportunity for China to readjust its industrial structure.

He said that when exports are under pressure, more enterprises will think about how to adjust their structure, pform their development mode and enhance their competitiveness in such an international and domestic environment.

The Ministry of Commerce has previously said that the growth rate of China's foreign trade imports and exports in the first half of the year is ideal. Although the export growth rate has slowed down over the same period of two 00 and seven years, the export control of "two high and one capital" (high energy consumption, high pollution and resource) products is one of the main reasons for the slowdown in export growth.