BEIJING -- China remained the top merchandise exporter in 2023 for the seventh straight year with its share in world exports at 14.2 percent, almost the same as the level in 2022, the Ministry of Commerce said.

The ministry made the remarks in response to the latest edition of World Trade Organization's (WTO) "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics," which foresees a gradual recovery in world merchandise trade volume in 2024 and 2025, following a contraction in 2023.

China stayed as the second top merchandise importer in 2023 with a share of 10.6 percent, basically the same with the level in 2022, the ministry said.

Despite the difficult recovery of the world economy, China has maintained steady performances in world merchandise trade, showing strong growth resilience, the ministry noted.

This showed that China's quality products are welcomed by the global market and imports into China's large domestic market have helped drive the economic growth of other countries, the ministry said.

The WTO report also cautioned that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with the current forecast due to the large number of risk factors present in the global economy, including regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions, and rising protectionism.