The country's imports and exports grew by less than 7 percent in the first 10 months, making it almost impossible to reach an annual growth rate of 10 percent, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said on Friday.

"China's exports in September grew 9.9 percent and rose a bit more than 11 percent in October, but this only suggests a lukewarm recovery and I think it is very difficult to achieve the annual target of 10 percent (trade growth) for this year," Chen told reporters.

But the world's second-largest economy will still be able to maintain or even slightly increase its share of the global trade volume in 2012, the minister said on the sidelines of the ongoing 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.