China pushes Taiwan July exports to record high

Taiwan's July export figures hit a better-than-expected monthly high of $28.12 billion on strong demand from China, officials and analysts said Monday. The value marked a rise of 17.6 percent year-on-year and an increase of 11.7 percent from the previous month, the finance ministry said in a statement. Local media had expected the export sector, the engine of the Taiwan economy, to post single-digit growth in July as an increasing number of the island's IT companies anticipate weaker demand amid a global slowdown. "The results are slightly better than expected thanks to the strong demand from China. Even the shipments to the United States are better than anticipated," Cheng Cheng-mount, a Citibank economist, told AFP. "The demand is not as weak as many may fear even though the third quarter is slowing if compared with the previous quarter." Last month Taiwan's exports to its biggest market China, including Hong Kong, rose 15.1 percent year-on-year to $11.2 billion, according to the statement. Shipments to the United States rose 22.5 percent year-on-year to $3.53 billion while sales to six members of the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose 16.6 percent to $4.55 billion.