China's exports grow for first time in 6 months in relief for factories

Exports grew 0.5% from a year earlier in November, compared with a 6.4% fall in October

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China's exports grew for the first time in six months in November, suggesting factories in the world's second-largest economy are attracting buyers through discount pricing to get over a prolonged slump in demand.

Mixed manufacturing data for November has kept alive calls for further policy support to shore up growth but also raised questions about whether predominantly negative sentiment-based surveys have masked improvements in conditions. Exports grew 0.5% from a year earlier in November, customs data showed on Thursday, compared with a 6.4% fall in October and beating the 1.1% drop expected in a Reuters poll. Imports fell 0.6%, dashing forecasts for a 3.3% increase and swinging from a 3.0% jump last month.

"The improvement in exports is broadly in line with market expectations... sequential growth in China's exports in the past few months has strengthened," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. "There are green shoots in other Asian countries' export data as well in recent months."