China's imports will rise and its politically volatile trade surplus should shrink this year as Beijing builds up a consumer-based economy to reduce reliance on trade, the commerce minister said Monday.

The government's 2011 economic blueprint calls for nurturing self-sustaining growth by promoting consumer spending. That might help to ease tensions with Washington and other trading partners that complain about currency controls and import barriers that they say swell China's multibillion-dollar trade surplus.

Speaking at a news conference during the annual session of China's legislature, Commerce Minister Chen Deming declined to give a detailed trade forecast but said Beijing would try to streamline import procedures.

"Our foreign trade policy principle this year is `stabilize exports, promote imports, reduce the surplus'," Chen said.

"We expect import growth to be relatively fast," he said. "The ratio of surplus to GDP should decline, though we cannot rule out the possibility there still might be a surplus."

China is the world's biggest exporter and reported a global trade surplus of $190 billion last year, down from $196 billion in 2009. Private sector analysts are forecasting a surplus this year of about $200 billion.