A tough start to the Chinese New Year means that things can only get better for the nation.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce held an online press conference Friday to address the coronavirus outbreak's impact on China's foreign trade.

Experts also noted Beijing's measures to cope with the challenges.

Although the World Health Organization has suggested countries should not impose restrictions on travel or trade with China, individual countries have imposed limitations on China's live animals, animal products and certain foods they import.

"We hope those countries respect the suggestions of WHO experts, and continue their understanding and firm support for China," said Li Xingqian, head of the Commerce Ministry's Department of Foreign Trade. "(We hope) they don't overreact, and that they create convenient conditions for cooperation."

Li said the coronavirus outbreak had posed severe challenges to China's foreign trade. China's imports and exports for January and February will slow down sharply, mainly due to logistics, company delays in resuming operations, and the Spring Festival holiday.

"By far, the impacts will be periodic and temporary," Li added. "They will depend on how long the outbreak lasts and the scale, so it's too early to tell. It will greatly affect the country's foreign trade in the first quarter, but it'll be bearable… Along with the large-scale recovery of logistics, and the resumption of operations, things will get better."

But Li said the ministry is still confident and optimistic about trade for the entire year.

"Internationally, the demands are generally stable," he says. "The International Monetary Fund expects the economic growth rate to be 3.3 percent, higher than last year's 2.9 percent. Domestically, the positive trend of China's foreign trade has not changed… When the government's policies are implemented and show their effects, the business environment for trade will improve. And when coping with the outbreak makes periodical achievements, China's foreign trade will see a recovery."

China's foreign capital companies have also suffered the negative effects of the coronavirus outbreak. In January, China used 87.6 billion yuan of foreign capital, or 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. That was up 4 percent compared to the same period last year. But the increase was slightly lower than the previous year.

"The impact of the outbreak has started to show," said Zong Changqing, head of the Commerce Ministry's Department of Foreign Capital. "It will be more obvious in February, March and for the first quarter altogether. But in the long-run and as a whole, the impacts will be periodic."

Zong said the ministry has been taking measures to help resolve difficulties when those companies resume operations. By the end of February, most foreign capital companies will have done so.

The ministry said that Beijing is dedicated to great efforts in helping companies overcome difficulties, and minimizing the outbreak's negative impact. The ministry recently announced specific measures and approaches to helping companies resume operations, streamline trade procedures, and create a good business environment for them.

Economic experts believe the remaining ten months of 2020 will allow for an economic rebound.

(Mark Fontes contributed to this story.)