Nation's interior showing robust trade potential

In January, exports from Guangdong province, which accounts for more than one-fifth of China's overall goods trade, dropped 6.4 percent from a year earlier. In the same period, exports from Central China's Jiangxi province surged 60.4 percent, and those from Sichuan province rose 41.2 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

However, seven eastern regions - Guangdong province, Jiangsu province, Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang province, Shandong province and Fujian province - continue to account for the bulk of China's overall trade, at about 76.7 percent of January's goods trade value.

Zheng Yusheng, a spokesman for the customs administration, said at a recent briefing that trade in the central and western regions is becoming more dynamic and the country's regional structure of trade more balanced.

Throughout 2013, the seven eastern regions accounted for 79 percent of the country's total goods trade value, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous year. In contrast, seven inland regions - Henan province, Yunnan province, Anhui province, Shaanxi province, Gansu province, Guizhou province and Chongqing - all posted trade growth above 15 percent from a year earlier, compared with the country's overall growth of 7.6 percent. Together they accounted for 5.7 percent of China's total trade value, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous year, Zheng said.

National Development and Reform Commission researcher Zhang noted the central government's strategies of opening the inland and border areas as well as improving ties with Central Asian countries also helped boost trade in the inland regions.

"Neighboring countries have huge demand for Chinese products. The inland regions will be a major force for supplying these products," Zhang said.

In a comprehensive reform plan released late last year, China pledged to expand the opening of inland and border areas while stepping up the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, two regional economic blueprints the Chinese government is hoping to create along ancient trade routes linking China to the Mediterranean Sea.

On Thursday, Yao Jian, a spokesman for Ministry of Commerce, said the ministry will facilitate the flow of goods and personnel between China and Central Asia while promoting the use of the yuan in trade settlements. It will also encourage two-way investment, which is expected to boost China's exports of equipment and high-tech products, while expanding its purchases of oil, gas and agricultural products from the region.