China foreign trade to further stabilize in H2

China's foreign trade is likely to stabilize further in the second half of the year as global demand picks up and trade-facilitating policies filter through, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said at a press conference on Friday.

"From what we've learned, exports and imports are very likely to maintain good growth momentum in August," MOC spokesman Shen Danyang said.

In response to a question regarding whether China's 8 percent trade growth target for 2013 can be achieved, Shen replied that the target is "just a forecast, not a mission."

Total foreign trade grew 7.8 percent in July to 354.16 billion U.S. dollars from a year earlier after a year-on-year decline of 2 percent was recorded in June, customs data showed.

The MOC attributed the rebound to government policies, including simplifying customs clearance and cutting operational fees to spur trade.

In the first seven months, foreign trade expanded by 8.5 percent, well above the year's growth target.