Beijing, May 13 (RHC)-- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has expressed confidence that the country will achieve 2014's economic goals. Li made the statement during a weeklong state visit to Africa, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

The remark reflected recent data of China's trade sector returning to slight growth in April. China’s National Bureau of Statistics said earlier this year that the Asian state’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.7 percent to 56.88 trillion yuan (9.31 trillion dollars) last year.

The growth pace was better than the government’s target of 7.5 percent. A new finding by the International Comparison Program (ICP), which involves the World Bank and the United Nations, has said China in 2011 closely followed the US in terms of the world economy.

China is widely expected to take the place of the US this year, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expecting China’s economy to grow 24 percent between 2011 and 2014 while the U.S. is expected to expand only 7.6 percent during the same time period.

Other experts, meanwhile, said China’s economic outlook remains cloudy as orders to the United States and Europe surged. Based on reports, from 2000 to 2013, China's cumulative imports amounted to about 13 trillion dollars, creating hundreds of millions of jobs in other countries around the world. China plays an important role in fueling the global economy as well.and Europe surged.

Based on reports, from 2000 to 2013, China's cumulative imports amounted to about 13 trillion dollars, creating hundreds of millions of jobs in other countries around the world. China plays an important role in fueling the global economy as well.