Foreign trade prospects

China must accelerate pursuit of technological innovations and improve product quality to compete in global market

Despite a recent export and import recovery, China still needs to improve the quality of its exports as a way to boost its struggling foreign trade in the international market where there are lingering uncertainties.

China's import and export volumes totaled 6.12 trillion yuan ($975 billion) in the first quarter, an increase of 13.4 percent year-on-year, statistics from the General Administration of Customs indicate. Of the total value, exports accounted for 3.2 trillion yuan, up 18.4 percent on the previous year, while imports rose by 8.4 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan. The trade surplus in the three months also increased from less than 1.3 billion yuan during the same period of last year to 270.5 billion yuan.