China will not hinge upon depreciation of its currency, renminbi, to expand exports, according to Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

"Given shrinking demand from abroad, the effect of export stimulation through currency depreciation is rather limited," Wednesday's People's Daily quoted Chen as saying.

"Recently, some countries depreciated their currencies but failed to reverse the downward trend of their foreign sales through such moves," he told the paper.

China hoped that all nations would make joint efforts and enhance coordination to keep international foreign exchange markets stable, Chen said.

Facing impact from serious natural disasters and the worst global financial crisis over the past 100 years, China managed to maintain a steady growth in foreign trade this year. Though the country's exports to European, US and Japanese markets grew much slower, its sales to emerging markets, such as India and Brazil, went up rapidly, he noted.

He estimated China's imports and exports would surpass US$2.5 trillion for the whole year, up about 18 percent over last year. The total includes more than US$300 billion in service trade.

As the financial crisis becomes worsening, China is confronted with bigger challenges next year in stabilizing its external trade, Chen told the paper.

He cited further shrinkage in demand from the United State, European Union and Japan, where economies had plunged into recession, trade protectionism and increased trade frictions as the major reasons.

There are also a lot of positive factors, Chen added. For instance, China has raised tax rebates for exporters, made policies to encourage upgrading of processing trade, and taken measures to ensure credit extension for smaller businesses. Meanwhile, China's exports of daily-use consumer goods were still competitive on international markets, and there were potentials for trade growth with emerging markets and developing nations.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2008)