BEIJING (PTI) -- China’s foreign trade volume is expected to exceed $2.1 trillion this year, a 20 percent jump over last year.

Export volume would reach $1.2 trillion and imports $950 billion, leaving a 250 billion trade surplus, Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a report.
The increasing Chinese foreign trade was due to continued global economic growth and the robust demand of the international market, Liu Haiquan, deputy director of the General Department with the ministry, said.
The rise was also aided by increasing Foreign Direct Investment, which shot up by 10.9 percent year-on-year to $47.2 billion in the first three quarters.
“China will continuously endeavor to improve its trade pattern to prevent the surplus from growing too fast,” Li Yushi, vice president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said.
According to official news agency Xinhua, the report, issued at the ongoing 102nd China Import and Export Commodities Fair at Guanzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province, also said China’s trade volume would hit $2.4 trillion in 2008, up by around 15 percent.
In the first nine months, exports rose 27.1 percent year-on-year to $878.2 billion and imports were up 19.1 percent to $692.6 billion, the General Administration of Customs data said.