Exports surge, but 2012 target may be difficult to reach (2)

"The low base number in the same period last year and surging demand thanks to the traditional Christmas shopping season in Western countries are the main reasons behind the recovery of exports in October," Chen Hufei, a researcher with the Bank of Communications, said in a research note sent to the Global Times Saturday.

The customs data also showed the country's trade volume growing 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year.

A breakdown by region showed that trade volume with the US, China's second largest trade partner, grew 9.1 percent in the first 10 months.

Trade volume with the EU, the country's largest trade partner, fell 3 percent over the same period.

Despite signs of a trade rebound emerging in September, when exports grew 9.9 percent as compared with a 2.7 percent rise in August, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming warned on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China Saturday that the country still faces a tough situation in foreign trade.

Given the EU's sovereign debt crisis, shrinking world trade and China's less than 7 percent trade growth in the first 10 months, it will be very difficult for the country to achieve its annual target of 10 percent growth in foreign trade, Chen said.