HK stocks close 1.68% higher

A senior Chinese official said Friday the country's foreign trade volume will surpass 3 trillion U.S. dollars this year, accounting for 10.5 percent of the world's total. This year marked the 10th anniversary of China's entry to the World Trade Organization, and the country has grown to the world's largest exporter and second largest importer, said Liu Mingkang, chief of China Banking Regulatory Commission, at a financial forum. The country's ratio of trade surplus to its GDP is expected to fall to lower than 3 percent this year from 7.5 percent in 2007, Liu said.