Simultaneous export, import decline unusual; fall also reflects fake invoicing

Achieving the 7.5 percent foreign trade growth target for 2014 will be an arduous task, given that the nation's exports and imports are under extreme pressure, as shown by unexpected weakness in the first four months.

"We have to achieve average growth of 11.3 percent in the coming eight months, which will take a lot of effort," Zhang Ji, head of the Ministry of Commerce's foreign trade department, told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

Customers select imported wines at a duty-free shop in Haikou, Hainan province. The Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday that it will be extremely hard to achieve this year's trade growth target of 7.5 percent. CHINA DAILY

Total foreign trade contracted 3.1 percent year-on-year to 8.1 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) in the first four months of 2014, according to the General Administration of Customs.

In the past 10 years, Zhang said, there have only been two periods when exports and imports both declined. Apart from the present, the other time was in 2009, when global trade collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis.

A major factor in the weakness of foreign trade this year was an artificially high base. Widespread fake invoicing activity took place via Hong Kong early in 2013 as a means to evade regulations on capital flows. Shipments to Hong Kong fell 31 percent in the first four months of this year from that base, he noted.

Also, total processing trade (which accounts for about one-third of the country's overall trade) slid 6.5 percent to 2.55 trillion yuan. Processing trade involves using imported raw materials or parts to assemble items for export.

In April, the Ministry of Commerce forecast a pickup in trade starting this month that would persist throughout the year. It cited resilient demand in the global market, Chinese producers' improved competitiveness and government moves to boost and upgrade exports.

However, Zhang said the decline of the first four months showed that China still faces deep-rooted problems, such as weak traditional industries and turbulent global markets.