The decline in China-Japan trade in 2013 was the result of many factors, but the main causes were economic, Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said on Tuesday.

Economic factors, including the slow global economic recovery and the slowdown in China's economic growth in the past year, were responsible for the dip in trade, Shen said.

However, he also pointed to rising political tensions between the two nations.

Japan's wrongdoings, including the "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in 2012 and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni war shrine in late December, have surely hurt the normal development of bilateral trade between China and Japan, Shen said.

China-Japan trade in 2013 declined 5.1 percent year-on-year to $312.55 billion, according to the ministry. China's exports dropped 0.9 percent to $150.28 billion and its imports fell 8.7 percent to $162.28 billion, it said.