As demand from China's traditional trading partners will not fully recover in the coming year, Chinese manufacturers should develop high value-added products and expand their business in emerging markets, experts said at a forum held by the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC).

Positive export figures in the past few months do not mean there will be a rebound in China's export volumes, as the demand from China's three largest trade partners, the EU, the US and Japan, will still be weak in 2010, Zhang Wei, vice chairman of the CCOIC, said.

China's exports turnover stood at $113.65 billion in November, down 1.2 percent year-on-year, but was up 2.6 percent from October for the fifth consecutive monthly increase, according to the latest figures from the General Administration of Customs.

"The exports increase in the fourth quarter of the year is largely due to the coming Christmas shopping season, when foreign buyers place orders to fill in their inventory warehousing around October," said Zhang. "But China's total export turnover this year is still experiencing a 20 percent decrease compared with last year."

Besides the weak demand, Chinese companies also face increasing trade protectionism. "Around 35 percent of anti-dumping investigations and 71 percent of countervailing investigations are targeted at Chinese products. China has become the biggest victim of trade protectionism," said Wan Jifei, chairman of the CCOIC.

The Ministry of Commerce released a report on December 1 that said 19 countries and regions had initiated 101 trade remedy investigations against products from China as of early November this year, involving a total of more than $11.6 billion.

Zhang said low-end products such as tires, electromechanical products, textiles and garments are most affected by the protectionism.

"Developed countries such as the US have turned to developing high-end manufactur-ing to solve the unemployment problem, so Chinese manufacturers will have increasing pressure from exporting to these countries," said Zhu Min, vice governor of the People's Bank of China.

Zhang, the CCOIC vice chairman, said Chinese manufacturers should develop high value-added products "to occupy international high-end markets, and expand opportunities in emerging markets such as South America and Africa."

Guangdong Galanz Group, a private household appliances manufacturer, has won large sums of orders from emerging markets in regions and countries including Africa, South America, the Middle East and Russia since the beginning of this year.

The company's export volumes are expected to realize an 80 percent year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to information posted on the company's website.

"China's exports volume is not expected to recover to the level before the global financial crisis, and the exports will be focused more on the quality rather than the quantity," Zhang said.