China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Friday forecast the country's foreign trade to expand about 20 percent year-on-year this year to 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

Foreign trade growth will slow in the following months of this year and in 2012 mainly due to "the complicated exterior environment," the MOC said in a report.

Slackening recovery of the world economy, increasing risk of a downturn and rising costs at home will pose risks to China's foreign trade, it said.

China will continue to boost trade growth, adjust its trade structure and expand imports to contribute to global trade balance, the ministry said.

China's foreign trade in October fell 8.3 percent from September to 297.95 billion U.S. dollars, but still rose 21.6 percent year-on-year, according to official data.

October exports weakened 7.2 percent month-on-month to 157.49 billion U.S. dollars, while imports dropped 9.5 percent month-on-month to 140.46 billion U.S. dollars.

China faces a pessimistic foreign trade outlook in light of global economic turmoil, rising labor and raw material costs and mounting pressure regarding the appreciation of the yuan, Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said Friday.

Source:xinhuanet