DAVOS, Switzerland — China’s domestic consumption is projected to continue to surge 15 to 16 percent in the next few years, China Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Thursday at the World Economic Forum here.
Noting that China’s domestic market is now valued at $2.4 trillion, Chen told reporters, “Robust growth of the domestic market will continue.”
Last year, China’s total trade reached $3 trillion, he said, with imports growing 38 percent to reach $1.4 trillion, making China the world’s second-biggest import market after the U.S., and surpassed the growth in the country’s exports, which rose 31 percent.
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Chen said under a new import trade promotion initiative, China’s imports are expected to double over the next five years, led by sectors such as raw materials, equipment, technology and daily essentials for the growing consumer market. He said U.S. exports to China shot up to $100 billion in 2010 and could reach $200 billion in the next five years.
Wei Jiafu, president and chief executive officer of China ocean shipping group Cosco, said in an interview that, due to the projected 9.5 percent expansion of the economy this year, “there will be increases in imports of goods and the stimulation of domestic demand will create a lot of opportunities for foreign investors.”
“So trade will be nonstop,” said Wei, who heads a conglomerate that owns or operates 800 merchant vessels and hauls more than 400 million tons of goods in 160 nations.