China will strive to keep its 2013 foreign trade growth in line with the GDP's growth pace, while further stabilizing and expanding its share of global trade, Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce told a news briefing on Wednesday.

China still faces challenging trade prospects in 2013 due to weak external demand and the unfavorable trade environment, despite the supportive measures at home, Shen said.

China's foreign trade in 2012 rose 6.2 percent year-on-year, which was the best performance among major global economies as the World Trade Organization predicted a 2.5 percent or lower world trade growth last year.