BEIJING -- The Chinese government will pursue steady growth in industrial production to pave the way for realizing its annual growth target set for the year, an official said on Thursday.

Xiao Chunquan, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a press conference that although there have been some positive signs in the third quarter, China's industrial sector still faces many difficulties.

China's industrial production rose 10.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared with 9.1 in the second quarter and 9.5 percent in the first, official data showed.

Industrial growth in the first three quarters stood at 9.6 percent, lower than the full-year target of 10 percent set by the ministry.

Xiao said that the country's industrial sector lacks a solid foundation for faster growth due to many problems, including inadequate demands, excess production capacity and operational troubles.

More efforts should be made to promote domestic demands, press ahead with structural reforms and streamline government administration to offer a better policy environment for the private sector, he urged.

Xiao added that "there will be a good result" for industrial output growth if those measures were taken, laying a good foundation for achieving the 7.5-percent growth target set by the government.

China's gross domestic product growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second. Growth in the first nine months stood at 7.7 percent.