Yu Guangzhou, vice minister of commerce, made the remarks here Sunday at a seminar held by the State Council Development and Research Center.

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In 2006, China's foreign trade volume reached 1.76 trillion U.S. dollars, ranking the third in the world. It is expected to surpass Germany and become the second largest trade country after the United States in the next two years.

The salary level of workers in export-oriented businesses is less than five percent of those in developed countries, and many commodities exported from China are tagged with foreign brands, Yu said.

Among the top 500 international brands in 2005, China only owned four, compared with 249 of the United States, 46 of France and 45 of Japan.

The overall capacity of Chinese companies is still quite weak compared with international enterprises. Figures show that in 2005 the business income, total profit and total asset of Top 500 companies in the world were 12, 14 and 17 times respectively of that in Top 500 Chinese companies.

Yu suggested that Chinese companies gradually improve their competitiveness through innovation and optimize the export structure so as to raise profit and foster more name brands.

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