BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade faces severe risks and challenges in 2020 as uncertainties intensify due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released by the Ministry of Commerce.

The risk of a global economic recession is rising, and industrial and supply chains have been disrupted with shrinking international trade and investment, noted the report.

Domestic firms, especially small and medium-sized ones, are facing increasing difficulties and mounting employment pressure, it added.

But as China's economic activities gradually normalize, there is still a solid foundation for stabilizing the overall performance of foreign trade and foreign investment, the report stressed.

Official data showed China's foreign trade of goods dropped by 4.9 percent year on year to 11.54 trillion yuan (about 1.63 trillion yuan) in the first five months of the year.

As part of efforts to stabilize global supply and industrial chains, the 127th China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, kicked off online Monday, a first for the decades-old trade fair, in south China's Guangdong Province.

As one of the leading global trade events so far this year, the 10-day online fair has attracted around 25,000 enterprises and hundreds of thousands of global buyers, with 1.8 million products exhibited.