The government set a 10 per cent growth rate target for exports at the beginning of this year, but this has proved too demanding for the country's exports sector, which is seriously weakened by the Asian currency crisis, the official ``China Daily Business Weekly'' said quoting a senior trade official. "Given the slowdown of world trade, it will be quite satisfying if our export growth rate can reach 4-5 per cent this year," International Trade Association of China deputy secretary general Qin Xuanren told the paper.

Qin noted that world trade is expected to be up by 3 per cent this year, which is 4 percentage point lower than last year's. "If this year's exports grow by 5 per cent to hit $191.8 billion, this will account for 19.7 per cent of this year's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, which will be quite closeto last year's performance,"he said. In 1997, China's exports surged 20.9 per cent to $182.7 billion, contributing 20.6 per cent of that year's 8.8 per cent GDP growth.

This year, China hopes to attain a lower GDP growth rate of 8 per cent and, according to official figures released last week, it registered a growth rate of 7.6 per cent in the third quarter of the year. Analysts said a slowdown in exports will likely make it more difficult to meet China's target for 8 per cent economic growth. The threshold is critical to creating new jobs to staving off unrest among millions of workers being laid off from bankrupt state-run industries. Government leaders and economists have listed exports, consumer spending and investment as crucial for growth. Improving the export market could prove difficult amid continued economic woes in the region, especially in Japan, a key investor and export market, analysts said.

Qin said he expected a leap in the exports in the last quarter of this year, especially during theChristmas season, a traditionally strong period for China's exports. He predicted an average of $18 billion in export volume for each of the last three months.