The premier also had a meeting with a delegation of US business leaders and former government officials last week, the first group of foreign guests he met with after the country's annual session of the National People's Congress.

China posted a trade deficit of $7.3 billion, the biggest amount for seven years,in February.

Its exports grew by 2.4 percent year-on-year to $96.74 billionwhile imports rose by 19.4 percent to $104.4 billion.

The growth in exports slowed sharply from the 38 percent year-on-year rise in January, leading to China's first trade deficit since March last year and the biggest since February 2004.

The country's inbound foreign direct investment accelerated in February by 32.2 percent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.