China's exports handily beat forecasts in November, adding to recent evidence of a stabilization in the world's second-largest economy as its leaders embark on an ambitious restructuring plan.
Exports rose 12.7 percent from a year earlier, the Customs Administration said on Sunday, against a median forecast in a Reuters poll of a 7.1 percent rise.
Imports rose 5.3 percent, below a forecast of 7.2 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $33.8 billion against forecasts for $21.7 billion.
China's exports grew faster in November thanks to Christmas consumption in Western countries and a recovering global economy, but pressure remains for future growth, experts said.
"There are signs that the global activity and trade cycle is gaining momentum, driven by the recovery in high income countries, and China's exporters are benefiting from that," Louis Kuijs, economist at RBS, said in a note.
Overall, the sequential growth trend in China's exports has been rising at a decent pace in recent months, suggesting that China's export sector is benefiting from the current upturn in the global economy, said Zhu Haibin, J.P. Morgan China Chief Economist.
The data reflected the gradual shift of investment growth from infrastructure and real estate fixed assets investment, which are generally more commodity-intensive, to manufacturing investment, Zhu added.
Despite the upbeat data, Chinese manufacturers will still face difficulties as they lose their traditional competitive edge in price because of higher costs, intensifying competition and the rising yuan, said Zhao.Forecasters warned that revival relied on a government mini-stimulus based on higher spending on railway construction and other public works. They said economic growth might decline again late in the year or in early 2014.
