As China's foreign trade unexpectedly slipped in the first quarter in 2014, the Ministry of Commerce ratcheted up its warnings about a further drop in April, but predicted a pickup in May and a continued recovery within this year.

Meanwhile, the ministry is speeding up its testing and investigating in maintaining the growth of exports, providing fuel for the transformation of the processing trade.

"We are expecting a better performance in foreign trade in the second quarter, but the bounce may be arriving in May," said Shen Danyang, a ministry spokesman, at a news conference on Thursday in Beijing.