China's trade volume will reach 5.3 trillion U.S. dollars by the year 2020, Li Gang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said Sunday.

Li made the remarks at the ongoing 107th China Import and Export Fair, the country's largest trade fair, held in the southern city of Guangzhou.

According to Li, China's merchandise imports and exports will hit 4.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020.

Merchandise exports will top other countries and be 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020, 10.1 percent of the world total.

Imports will reach 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars and rank second largest, accounting for 8.2 percent of the world total.

Weighed down by the global financial crisis, the nation's foreign trade recorded a 13.9 percent year-on-year decline to 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 2009, with merchandise exports of 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars and imports of 1 trillion U.S. dollars.

In the first quarter, foreign trade began to grow again, jumping 44.1 percent to 617.85 billion U.S. dollars, according to customs data.