BEIJING - China will take a string of measures to maintain stable trade growth in 2019, the country's commerce minister said Saturday.

The commerce ministry will implement a raft of trade facilitation policies and measures in export credit insurance, financing and others to reduce burdens and improve efficiency for foreign trade companies, Zhong Shan, China's Minister of Commerce, told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

Efforts will also be stepped up in improving the business environment to shore up enterprises' confidence, Zhong added.

China will promote international cooperation via the Belt and Road Initiative, and explore emerging trade markets while building on traditional ones, he said.

"Generally speaking, China's trade is huge in scale, but not competitive enough," Zhong said, adding that the ministry will encourage exports of high-tech, high-quality and high-value-added products.

Imports will be expanded in scale and optimized in structure to meet domestic demands, according to him.

The ministry will support enterprises' innovation in technologies, systems and management to boost market competitiveness and encourage development of new trade businesses and models, Zhong added.