The Ministry of Commerce pledged to give exporters more support in overcoming overseas technical barriers whose impact on exports is surpassing traditional tariffs.

"The government will, on one hand, provide information and technical support for enterprises, and on the other, it will support multilateral negotiations concerning the barriers," Vice-Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun said yesterday.

More than 15 per cent of Chinese exporters are affected by overseas technical trade barriers, according to the latest report released yesterday by the ministry.

The report was based on a survey of more than 1,200 enterprises conducted by the ministry, local government and industrial organizations.

It said 18 out of 22 categories of exports suffered direct losses because of the barriers. The losses last year totalled about US$69.1 billion or more than 9 per cent of the country's total exports.

Opportunities lost were worth US$147 billion last year, about 20 per cent of the total exports.

The measures to deal with foreign technical barriers also increased the cost to enterprises by US$21.7 billion last year.

The technical barriers, involving changes to regulations and standards, have replaced import tariffs as the major threat to overseas exports, in particular to the European Union, the United States and Japan.

Yi said major problems Chinese enterprises face when dealing with technical barriers is the lack of information, capital and resolution.

The ministry will accelerate the publication of booklets dealing with the barriers and international standards.

"We are glad to see the country is poised to participate in the stipulation of international technical standards," said a manager from Beijing-based Tongrentang, a 337-year-old pharmacy and exporter of traditional Chinese medicines.

She said information and advice from the government had helped the company address some practical problems in overseas markets, thereby sharpening its competitive edge.