It will take time to adjust the trade imbalance between China and some of its trade partners, two high-level officials said yesterday.

"China wants to reduce its trade surplus, but we cannot imagine the issue being solved in the short term or by measures solely in the trade sector," said Commerce Minister Bo Xilai at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

"The surplus does not come solely or mainly from trade, but is caused by the overall structure of the industrial sector and international economy."

China registered a trade surplus of $23.8 billion in February, according to customs figures released yesterday.

The country's surplus totalled $178 billion for last year, and $15.9 billion in January this year.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said the most effective approach to addressing the imbalance would be to adjust the structure of the country's economy.

Some domestic measures that have been floated include expanding consumption and developing the country's service industry. Other steps include increasing imports and encouraging Chinese companies to invest overseas, he said at the same press conference.

"It will take time to adjust. It should be a slow, gradual process," he said.

"But an adjustment of this sort should be essential to addressing the imbalance."

As an auxiliary tool, modifying the country's exchange rate policy could also have some effect in adjusting the balance between exports and imports, he said.

The country's trade surplus has been the source of friction between China and its trading partners.

Bo said that last year 37 percent of the anti-dumping cases in the world targeted China.
These cases, together with anti-subsidy cases, affected 8,500 Chinese enterprises and 500,000 workers.

"We have to take the issue seriously," he said.

Bo said China hopes to resolve these disputes through consultations.

"But we would also respect our trading partners' decisions to take their concerns to the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system if they would like to do so," he added.

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