BEIJING Thu May 8, 2014 7:08am

China is confident about expanding its economy by around 7.5 percent this year, Premier Li Keqiang was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying on Thursday, in line with the government's growth target.

The remarks from Li, who is on a state visit to Africa, follows data that showed China's trade sector returning to slight growth in April as orders to the United States and Europe surged, though the outlook remains cloudy.