China maintains reasonable trade surplus: commerce minister

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China has managed to keep its trade surplus at 3 percent of its GDP for the last two years, a reasonable level by international standards, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said Friday.

The surplus once stood at about 6 percent of the GDP at its highest point, Chen said at a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature

The total volume of foreign trade soared to 3.87 trillion U.S. dollars in 2012, compared with 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars five years ago. It accounted for 11.1 percent of global trade volume in 2012, from 8.8 percent five years ago, .

China brought in more than 110 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment annually over the last three years. The funds were mainly used to increase investment in central and west China cities, as well as within the service sector.

In 2012, China's foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped by 3.7 percent from the previous year, correlating with an 18-percent decline in global FDI.

China's overseas investment had increased rapidly to 77.2 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of 2012, making China the fifth-largest capital-exporting country.

"This year, we will maintain growth momentum in capital exports," Chen said.