BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's exports of textiles will keep growing this year despite waning demand overseas, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Thursday.

Though China's textile industry has faced huge pressure and exhibited a downward trend in its expansion, the growth rate of exports in 2012 will not be lower than that of international trade during the same period, as China still retains a competitive edge, said the MIIT in a statement on its website.

The industry posted a year-on-year rise of 24 percent in exports to 86.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of 2011, pulling back 4.8 percentage points from that of the first half of the year, according to the statement.

Main business revenues rose 27.4 percent during the January-November period while the industrial output went up 10.5 percent year-on-year, said the statement.

The MIIT noted that the industry faced a variety of challenges, including rising labor costs, waning demand, capital supplies and technological improvements, adding the sector will experience increasing pressure this year.