（A visitor tries an intelligent exhibit at the 2020 Global Key and Core Technology Innovation Conference in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Sept. 16, 2020.）

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Monday unveiled guidelines on the innovative development of the country's foreign trade.

It specified measures covering nine areas to promote trade development, including searching for new ways to explore the international market, optimizing the domestic layout of foreign trade, and enhancing the competitiveness of foreign trade firms.

The country will actively negotiate and sign more high-standard free trade agreements and regional trade agreements while leveraging new technologies and channels to explore the international market, according to the guidelines.

Efforts go into enhancing trade quality in the country's eastern region, increase the proportion of trade in the central and western areas, and expand the opening-up of the northeastern region while innovating mechanisms to foster cooperation among different regions, the guidelines said.

The guidelines also required authorities to offer a targeted guide to different types of enterprises to foster the competitiveness of both large foreign trade firms and small and medium-sized enterprises.

（Aerial photo shows the Lianyungang port, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 7, 2020）

It also specified measures to improve the structure of exports and imports, cultivate innovative trade modes, and foster platforms to promote foreign trade.

China has managed to keep foreign trade stable this year despite disruptions by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first ten months, the country's foreign trade of goods went up by 1.1 percent year on year, accelerating from an increase of 0.7 percent in the first three quarters, customs data showed.