At the annual conference of Ministry of Commerce, officials pledged support for supply-side reforms and the one belt one road initiative. The officials asked their colleagues to pay more attention to quality of the growth rather than the numbers.

"We should get rid of the complex with growth numbers, and get rid of the concerns on economic slowdown. We should turn our attention to rate of growth to long-term restructuring, nurturing fresh competitiveness in foreign trade via economic restructure," said Zhi Luxun, deputy director, Foreign Trade Dept., Commerce Ministry. 

Analysts said that not assigning a specific number for foreign trade in 2017 came because foreign demand is mired with uncertainty.

They also said the situation requires a change of mindset, meaning China's opening up efforts will be geared toward the one belt one road initiative.

Trade will help with the overall requirement of stable growth, faster reform, and economic restructure. But continued soft patches in the global economy worry Chinese trade officials.