The Chinese Ministry of Commerce expects China’s foreign trade to improve in the second half of 2015, after poor numbers were reported so far this year, Chinese state-owned news agency Xinhua said.

Weak overseas demand, China losing its traditional competitiveness in exports, and the depreciation of currencies of some trade partners against the US dollar are the three reasons the ministry pointed to for the setbacks in the trade, according to the report.

In the first five months of this year, China’s total trade posted an 8-percent contraction, compared to an official target of 6-percent growth for the whole year.

But Shen Danyang, spokesperson of the ministry, said on Thursday they are “making every effort” to spur trade by introducing fresh measures to cut trade-related costs.

“I believe China’s trade situation will improve in the latter half of 2015, with the slow recovery of the global economy and the kick-in of these measures,” he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the ministry also announced China’s overseas direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors surged by 47.4 percent year-on-year in the first five months of this year to 278.36 billion yuan (US$45.41 billion). Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China expanded by 10.5 percent to 330.95 billion yuan in the January to May period.