China's export volume for the year 2000 is expected to surpass 210 billion US dollars, higher than the estimated six percent for 1999, according to foreign trade experts.

Li Jian, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said in an interview with Xinhua that China's foreign trade will continue to grow steadily in the new year.

Total foreign trade volume this year is expected to reach the 400-billion-US-dollar target set in the country's ninth five- year plan for the 1996-2000 period, he said.

Li based his prediction on both domestic and international factors.

Although hit by the Asian financial crisis and severe flooding over the past two years, China has maintained a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of over seven percent, and some economists estimate that the GDP will grow at around 7.5 percent this year.

In addition, China's exports recovered in the latter half of last year, and the final figure for the whole of 1999 is expected to show a growth rate of around six percent to hit 195 billion US dollars in 1999, according to Li.

In the new year, Li said, China will continue to have a favorable international environment characterized by improvements in global economic performance, a relatively stable world financial market, increased world trade, recovery in commodity prices on the international market, and rapid flow of transnational capital that might set new record.

In particular, he said, China's major trading partners, especially those in Asia, have increased their imports, creating more opportunities for China's exports.

These economies have also seen rising exchange rates and growing economic indices, which means they might need more Chinese products, said Wang Songqi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Experts believe that as China continues to employ an active financial policy, greater investment will be earmarked for infrastructure facilities, which in turn will help increase imports.

China's imports have been growing at a double-digit rate over the past two decades, and the rate for 1999 is estimated to grow by some 18 percent to 165 billion US dollars.

However, experts also warned that China may also face more challenges and competition, especially from the countries and regions in southeast Asia, and as a result, overseas investment could continue to drop. To deal with these eventualities, they have urged government departments to help improve the competitiveness of Chinese export commodities. (Xinhua)