Kara Tsuboi:
China is often called the new engine of world growth. And, that engine roared just a little bit louder this week. China's trade growth in May was double what analysts expected, but the country's commerce minister says it's too early to celebrate just yet. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV explains that weakness in the European Union could still drag everything back down.

Reporter:
While manufacturing-related data pointed to domestic economic weakness, China’s exports and imports figures were much stronger than expected. Exports rose 15.3 percet in May, more than double the expectations.

Imports gained 12.7 percent, also more than double analysts' forecast. That left a trade surplus of 18.7 billion US dollars, the biggest since January. But the Ministry of Commerce says on Monday despite the rebound, the trade outlook remains gloomy.

Chen Deming, Minister, Chinese Ministry of Commerce:
China’s foreign trade is still facing a grim environment in the coming months, mainly due to the EU crisis. We predict it will still be able to achieve the 10% target for the whole year if we are lucky. That is still our goal.

Reporter:
Concerns have grown that the euro bloc may slip back into recession, despite the bailout injected for Spain. China’s two-way trade with the EU grew by a lacklustre 1.3 percent. Analysts say China should be ready to launch more stimulus measures to counter intensifying external weakness. In the first five months, China’s foreign trade rose 7.7 percent year-on-year to reach 1.5 trillion US dollars. Exports grew 8.7 percent, while imports rose 6.7 percent.