As China's export industries shift from labor-intensive to emerging industries - like green energy - foreign countries are creating more restrictions on China's exports.

The report states that weak overseas demand will increase trade friction on Chinese exports. Confronted with a complex and challenging environment at home and abroad, China should continue to focus on stabilizing growth and promoting trade balance.

The MOFCOM says it will closely track changes in foreign trade and ensure the implementation of various policies and measures.

Meanwhile, it will work to make China more accommodating to imports in an effort to balance trade with other countries.

Not optimistic

The report states that the environment at home and abroad for China's foreign trade in 2013 may be slightly better than that of 2012, but restraints still exist.

Outside China, as various countries strengthen their macroeconomic policies, the European debt crisis is mitigated and the US economic recovery becomes stable, the global economic environment may improve.

However, the sovereign debt crisis in developed economies undermines the potential for growth, and the side effects of stimulus policies have become increasingly prominent. Emerging economies face various difficulties and trade and investment protectionism is intensifying. Therefore, low global economic growth will continue.

Within China, as a series of policies and measures for expanding domestic demand and stabilizing external demand are implemented and produce effects, China's economy has become stable.

However, the basis for stable economic growth is not solid and domestic consumption is still subject to restrictions from systemic factors. Some industries are confronted with excess production capacity and businesses still face various other difficulties.

The report says that unfavorable conditions at home and abroad will continue, and export orders will slump in 2013.

The decade starting in 2002 saw the fastest foreign trade growth, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20 percent.

In 2011, China's exports accounted for 10.4 percent of the world's total, ranking first for three consecutive years; imports accounted for 9.5 percent of the world's total, ranking second for three consecutive years.

With profound changes both at home and abroad, the rapid growth of foreign trade in previous years in China will be difficult to sustain, the report says.

Dawn out of darkness

Although foreign trade is confronted with a harsh reality, Wang Shouwen, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the MOFCOM, said that moves to diversify markets for the country's exports are producing a desirable effect.

Wang said in the first half this year, the four traditional markets for the Chinese mainland - Europe, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong - accounted for 56.5 percent of China's total exports, much lower than its peak of 80 percent, indicating that efforts to diversify China's export markets are seeing success.

Furthermore, exports are being better distributed across the country. The coastal areas contributed 88.5 percent to the country's total exports compared to 96 percent in 2010.