CHINA'S trade value will reach US$5.3 trillion by 2020, Li Gang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said yesterday.

Li made the remarks at the ongoing 107th China Import and Export Fair, the country's largest trade fair, held in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Li said China's merchandise imports and exports will hit US$4.3 trillion in 2020. Merchandise exports will top other countries and be worth US$2.4 trillion in 2020, 10.1 percent of the world total. Imports will reach US$1.9 trillion in 2020 and rank second-largest, accounting for 8.2 percent of the global total.

Weighed down by the global financial crisis, China's foreign trade posted a 13.9 percent annual decline to US$2.2 trillion in 2009, with merchandise exports of US$1.2 trillion and imports of US$1 trillion. In the first quarter of this year, foreign trade began to grow again, jumping 44.1 percent to US$617.85 billion, according to customs data.