In the first half of this year, exports grew 0.9 percent to $1.06 trillion while imports increased 1.5 percent to $960 billion, customs data showed.

Those extremely modest figures, which are quite unusual for the world's largest merchandise trader, mostly reflected weak performance in the first quarter when total trade contracted 3.8 percent.

Experts also noted that the first-quarter figures this year were affected by an artificially high base of comparison. Year-earlier statistics were inflated by falsified trade invoices used to disguise capital flows.

Excluding this factor, exports in the first quarter were up more than 5 percent, various financial institutions estimated.

HSBC Holdings Plc said in a report that imports rose in June even as commodity prices fell, which was "a sign of the recovery in investments". The report forecast a slow and modest recovery in imports during the second half.

But the overall weak first-half performance means even if conditions improve in the second half, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the government's 7.5 percent foreign trade growth target for the year.

The trade balance narrowed slightly to $31.6 billion from $36 billion in May. Still, the $103 billion trade surplus recorded in the first half may give rise to calls for renewed appreciation of the yuan.

Emma Dai in Hong Kong contributed to this story.

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