China's foreign trade would expect a more complicated and grave outlook in 2010 with increasing global competition and protectionism, Zhou Xiaoyan, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) official said Monday.

There were increasing uncertainties in international trade with governments around the world striving to protect domestic industries and compete for global markets as the world economic recovery would be a slow and devious process, Zhou, director of the fair trade bureau under the MOC, said during an online interview.

According to Zhou, as of the end of November, 19 countries and regions have launched 103 trade remedy investigations against Chinese products. Both the number of the cases and the money involved hit record high, she said.

The trade frictions not only made the situation more difficult for China's export companies and imposed pressure on employment growth, but also brought adverse impacts to the country's macro-regulation and economic development, she said.

From January to November, China's imports and exports totalled 1.96 trillion U.S. dollars, down 17.5 percent compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the General Administration of Customs.