China’s exports increased at the fastest pace in the last five months in October. This was an indication that the world’s second largest economy started to rebound as its industrial output and retail sales 
topped forecasts.
Overseas shipments went up 11.6 percent compared to last year. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated an average of 10 percent in October. The overseas shipments went up 9.9 percent in September. China’s imports increased 2.4 percent, which is the same compared to the previous month. Trade surplus expanded to $32 billion, which is the biggest in almost four years.
Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment went up in October according to government reports released last November 9. These were signs that the economic growth will top Premier Wen Jiabao’s 7.5 percent goal for his last year in office.
China is confident that it could reach at least 7.5 percent this year. This was according to Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission during a briefing yesterday. But the trade outlook is still grim for the coming months. China needs to prepare for the challenges that include the debt crisis in Europe and the slow global growth. China must also deal with domestic issues such as overcapacity.
Export gains have gotten faster from the 1 percent pace in July and 2.7 percent in August. The import growth in October was behind the average economist estimate of 3.4 percent according to a Bloomberg survey. It was also down from the 28.7 percent increase in October of 2011.
Inbound shipments in August showed the first non-holiday drop since 2009. The trade surplus in October has an average estimate of $27.3 billion and a $27.7 billion excess in September.
