Taiwan's export orders from China rose for the first time in a year, data showed on Monday, backing views the world's second biggest economy will help drive the region's recovery. Taiwan's overall export orders in July fell 8.77 percent from a year earlier, logging the smallest decline since October 2008 when orders dropped by 5.56 percent, with analysts expecting the improving trend to persist through the rest of the year.
Export orders from China rose an annual 2.2 percent in July, posting their first gain since July last year and rebounding strongly from a 10.49 percent drop in June, data from the economics ministry showed.
"Overall, China's demand for electronics is pretty strong, especially LCDs," Huang Ji-shih, the economics ministry's chief statistician, told a news conference. Huang added that this year's overall export orders will total $310 billion, down about 12 percent from 2008 and roughly in line with his previous forecast for a decline of about 10 percent.
Taiwan's orders, an indicator of the strength of global tech demand and Asia's exports in coming months, will likely continue to improve and start posting growth in the fourth quarter, helped also by the low base effect of last year's collapse, analysts said.