Foreign trade plays important role in Chinese economy: minister   2002-11-13 17:01:53 A senior Chinese official said in Beijing on Wednesday that foreign trade and economic cooperation have become an important component of the Chinese economy. Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that the proportion of exports in China's gross domestic product had increased to 23 percent in 2001 from 11.8 percent in 1989, five percentage points more than the world average. Actual overseas capital accounted for 11 percent of all investments in fixed assets across the country in 2001, and industrial added value of the overseas－funded enterprises made up 24.6 percent of the nation's total, he said. Foreign trade and economic cooperation, Shi said, has helped accelerate economic restructuring and increase economic efficiency in the country. By cooperating with overseas firms or absorbing advanced technology and managerial expertise from abroad, he said, China has had traditional industries like textiles and home appliances upgraded, while fostering new and high－tech industries. Shi said that exports and imports contributed 16 percent of China's tax revenues last year and more than 70 million people are engaged in foreign trade and economic cooperation. The development of the sector has also helped improve China's balance of payments, pushing its foreign exchange reserves up to 258.6 billion US dollars by the end of September 2002 from 5.5 billion US dollars at the end of 1989, ranking second in the world, Shi added.