Developing and transitional economies need to move toward more balanced growth and emphasize domestic demand, a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said. 

A shopper selects products at an imported goods shelf at a supermarket in Yichang, Hubei province. Liu Junfeng / for China Daily

The Trade and Development Report 2013, which was released in Xiamen, Fujian province, during the annual China International Fair for Investment and Trade, said a prolonged period of slow growth in developed countries will mean continued sluggish growth in their imports.

"Developing and transitional economies need to reconsider development strategies that have been overly dependent on exports. Instead, they should give greater weight to domestic demand," said Li Yuefen, head of the debt and development finance branch of UNCTAD.

Getting on a more balanced growth path could, on a sustained basis, compensate for the adverse effects of slower-growing exports to developed countries, according to the report.

Citing China's huge domestic market potential, Eric Dahl, chief executive officer of the World Trade Centers Association, which represents more than 300 world trade centers in 100 countries, said developing countries should shift their strategies from simply relying on developed markets to a more balanced trade path.

Dahl said China's vast domestic demand provided a new market when overseas markets were hard hit by the global economic downturn that began in 2008.