Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng forecast that China will overtake Germany to become the world's second largest trading country in 2008 if foreign trade could maintain a 15 percent annual growth.

In a speech at Beijing University on Monday, he even predicted that China will likely replace the United States to become the world's top trading country sometime between 2015 and 2020,

So far, Gao said China's output of 172 sorts of commodities ranks first in the world, with the output of tractors and containers accounting for above 80 percent of the world's total, and that of watches and radio cassettes, 60 percent.

Gao also said China's GDP will reach 15 trillion yuan (1.8 trillion US dollars) this year, ranking sixth in the world. By the end of this year, China's foreign exchange reserves will hit 800 billion US dollars.

The ministry's latest report on foreign trade estimated that China's foreign trade volume will surpass 1400 billion US dollars this year, up 20 percent from the previous year, with exports to grow 26 percent, and imports around 18 percent.

Source: Xinhua