China's soaring trade surplus is largely due to slumping prices in imports, and the bigtrade gap was not intentional, a commerce official said on Friday.

"The government encourages imports," Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said at a pressconference, adding that the market should not read too much into the trade surplus numbers.

Denominated in Chinese yuan, exports increased 4.9 percent last year, while imports fell 0.6percent as sliding global oil and commodities prices reduced import costs.

The foreign trade surplus widened to 45.9 percent year on year, or 2.35 trillion yuan, officialfigures showed.

Zhong said the surplus in goods trade was due to made-in-China products being strongcompetitively in the global market. However, in terms of service trade, China posted a hugedeficit.

The detailed figures reflect the respective competitiveness of China's manufacturing andservices sectors in the global market, said the trade official.

Therefore, the trade surplus is a result of market competition, rather than governmentintervention, Zhong said.

At the press conference, Zhong reiterated China's stance on its opposition to trade protectionismand its preference for consultation and negotiation to settle trade friction.

Zhong said China had faced rising trade friction in recent years. As the economy grows andChinese products' competitiveness improves, trade disputes involving China will continue to rise.

But China will continue to adopt an open attitude to the issues and strengthen exchanges andcooperation with other countries, as a healthy and sustainable trade environment serves allparties' interests, Zhong said.