2010-04-27 22:50

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce Tuesday made a cautious prediction for the outlook of the nation's foreign trade for the rest of the year amid the fragile global economic recovery.

The rebound of China's overseas shipments in the first quarter can largely be attributed to the low comparison base of the same period last year, the commerce ministry report said.

Moreover, uncertainty in the global market remains as high unemployment in European Union nations and low capacity-utilization in the United States may dampen consumption and investment, the report said.

China is facing deteriorating trade conditions as trade protectionism is on the rise, the report added.

China suffered 19 trade-remedy investigations in the first quarter, up 93.5 percent over the same time last year. The investigations, targeting Chinese products, involved trade worth $1.19 billion, the report said.

The report also said higher costs may squeeze domestic enterprises' profits as a result of raw material price hikes and rising labor costs.

China's exports increased 28.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2010 after dipping 16 percent last year amid the global economic downturn, customs data showed.