BEIJING -- Global uncertainty was the main reason China saw negative trade growth last year, China's commerce minister Gao Hucheng said Tuesday.

Chin's foreign trade registered minus 8 percent growth in terms of US dollar last year, failing to reach the 6 percent growth target set at the beginning of 2015 following growth in 2014 of 2.3 percent.

Commodity prices plunged unexpectedly last year and geopolitical conflicts as well as outbreaks of diseases and terrorism disrupted international trade, said Gao at a press conference.

The country's trade had grown at an average annual rate of about 15.3 percent over the past three decades, but now the speed is slowing down as the economy shifts gears, Gao said.

The minister expressed confidence in China's foreign trade growth prospect in 2016, citing the nation's capacity in almost every industry, its power of innovation, the emergence of new industries and pro-business reforms undertaken by the government.