trade Photo: VCG

China's foreign trade is expected to reach $6 trillion for the whole year of 2021, an increase of $1.3 trillion compared with 2020, Vice Minister of Commerce (MOFCOM) Ren Hongbin said on Thursday.

While the foreign trade is forecast to come to a new level this year, bucking the global trend, the commerce ministry said there are still unprecedented challenges ahead for stabilizing foreign trade growth in 2022.

Speaking at a press conference of the State Council Information Office on Thursday, Ren said that the foreign trade is expected to reach $6 trillion for the whole year of 2021.

The trade growth is an indication of the achievements of stabilizing quantity while bolstering the quality of foreign trade.

From January to November, China's imports and exports reached 35.39 trillion yuan ($5.55 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 22 percent, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

However, some "unprecedented" difficulties in stabilizing foreign trade in 2022 linger. This is due to a weak global recovery, chip and container shortages, and rising costs of raw material and others, Ren warned.

Other challenges include the rising currency exchange rate of the Chinese yuan, which may also put additional burden on enterprises.

The phased factors such as price increases that support the growth of foreign trade this year are difficult to sustain next year, especially after superimposing on the ultra-high base number in 2021.

Given all these factors, it will be unprecedentedly difficult to do a good job in stabilizing foreign trade next year, the vice minister said.

But experts believe that with the RCEP officially coming into effect in January 2022, the new measures such as the zero tariffs will play an important role in stabilizing the trade.