China lowered its annual target of trade growth to 7.5 percent in 2014 after the world's second-largest economy became the leading goods trader last year.

Meanwhile, the government has shifted its focus to improving the country's trade quality and boosting its exports amid a climate of rising costs at home and new rules coming from regional trade agreements.

"We will make it a strategic priority to upgrade exports and promote the balanced growth of foreign trade," Premier Li Keqiang said when delivering a government work report on Wednesday.