A Chinese official said Thursday that the country may still face grave challenges from trade frictions this year because of the rising protectionist and unilateralist trends of certain economies.

Uncertain trade and investment policies in some economies, especially their rising protectionist and unilateralist trends, have raised global concerns over the trade and investment environment and may cause retaliatory trade remedy measures, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

Gao said China remained the largest target of trade remedy measures last year, though the number of cases and value involved declined because of a higher comparative base in 2016, improving global economy, and the fight against protectionism.

There were 75 trade cases targeting Chinese products worth a total of 11 billion U.S. dollars last year, down 37 percent and 23 percent respectively, according to Gao.

He reiterated the country's commitment to pushing for the building of an open world economy and urged countries to settle trade frictions through negotiations.

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