Indicating overseas demand for Chinese goods was strengthening, China's trade surplus rose to $23.99 billion in October, up from $12.93 billion in September, the General Administration of Customs said.
Exports fell 13.8% to $110.76 billion on-year in October, the data showed -- the best result since exports fell by 2.8% in December as the global crisis began to set in.
In the first 10 months of 2009, the trade surplus stood at $159.23 billion, compared with $135.5 billion in the January to September period, customs authorities said.
Exports from January to October totaled $957.36 billion, down 20.5% from the same period a year earlier.
"The exports numbers are encouraging, and suggest that stronger external demand should provide additional support to China's recovery in the months ahead," said Brian Jackson, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Royal Bank of Canada. "This would then provide scope for Beijing to start moving to tighten policy some time early next year, including letting the currency strengthen."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
