目前，中国对外贸易发展还存在不均衡、不协调、不可持续的问题，突出表现在：出口增长主要依赖资源、能源、土地、劳动力和环境等要素投入及耗费，科技、管理、创新等要素投入不足，外贸发展与资源能源供给和环境承载力的矛盾日益突出；企业研发、设计、营销和服务等方面的竞争力还不强，自有知识产权和自有品牌出口产品所占比重不大；外贸发展对三次产业的贡献还不够均衡；中西部地区对外贸易规模和水平还相对落后；外贸增长的质量和效益有待进一步提高等。中国政府清醒地认识到这些问题，采取积极措施加快转变外贸发展方式，实现外贸的可持续发展。

    努力培育外贸发展的综合竞争优势。面对近年来劳动力成本不断上升、资源和能源等生产要素价格大幅上涨、出口产业传统的低成本优势大大弱化的新情况，中国政府提出了外贸由粗放型发展向集约型发展转变的战略目标。“十一五”规划期间(2006—2010年)，中国政府调整进出口税收政策，深入实施科技兴贸战略、市场多元化战略和以质取胜战略，开展加工贸易转型升级试点，改进对进出口企业的融资保险服务，推动企业加快技术进步和产品结构优化，增强了外贸的综合竞争优势。大部分进出口企业经受住了国际金融危机冲击，进出口贸易在危机后实现了较快复苏。“十二五”规划期间(2011—2015年)，中国将努力保持现有出口竞争优势，加快培育以技术、品牌、质量和服务为核心的新优势，促进工业转型升级，延长加工贸易增值链，提高企业和产品的竞争力和附加值。大力发展服务贸易，促进货物贸易和服务贸易协调发展。继续扩大服务业对外开放，推动服务外包发展，努力扩大新兴服务出口。财政税收、金融保险、外汇管理、海关通关、检验检疫、物流和运输等领域都将进一步完善和落实国家相关政策，加快贸易和投资便利化，努力推动对外贸易的稳定健康发展。

At present, unbalanced, inconsistent and unsustainable development factors persist in China's foreign trade. They are manifested in the following ways: Export growth mainly relies on the input and consumption of resources, energy, land, manpower, environment, etc., while the input of science and technology, management, innovation and other factors are insufficient, resulting in an ever more conspicuous contradiction between foreign trade development and the constraint on resource supply and environmental carrying capacity; enterprises are not competitive enough in R&D, design, marketing and services, and products with their own intellectual property rights and with their own brands account for only a small proportion of the exports; the contribution of foreign trade to China's primary, secondary and tertiary industries is unbalanced; central and western China falls behind other regions in the scale and level of foreign trade; and foreign trade needs improvement in terms of the quality of its products and profits. The Chinese government is clearly aware of these problems and has taken active measures to accelerate the change of the development pattern of foreign trade, and achieve sustainable development.

Fostering comprehensive competitive edge of foreign trade development. In recent years, with the rising labor cost and spiraling prices of resources, energy and other production factors, the low-cost advantage of export-oriented industries has been greatly weakened. In the face of these new conditions, the Chinese government has set the strategic goal of turning the mode of foreign trade from extensive to intensive development. During the 11th Five-year Plan period (2006-2010) the Chinese government adjusted import and export taxation policies and implemented the strategies of fostering foreign trade by science and technology, market diversification and putting quality first. It launched pilot projects for transforming and upgrading processing trade, improved financial and insurance services for import and export enterprises, and encouraged enterprises to accelerate technical progress and optimize product structure. With these measures, China enhanced the comprehensive competitiveness of its foreign trade. Most import and export enterprises withstood challenges of the international financial crisis, and China's foreign trade recovered soon after the crisis. During the 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015) China will make efforts to maintain its current competitive edge in exports, foster new advantages centering on technology, branding, quality and services at a faster pace, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, extend the value-added chain of processing trade, and the competitiveness and added value of enterprises and products. It will vigorously develop trade in services to promote balanced development between it and trade in goods. It will open the services trade wider to the outside world, promote service outsourcing, and try to expand the export of new services. It will improve and implement state policies in the fields of finance and taxation, banking and insurance, foreign currency management, customs clearance, inspection and quarantine, and logistics and transportation, in a bid to speed up trade and investment facilitation for the stable and healthy development of foreign trade.