China's Economy Faces Uphill Battle Despite Small Export Growth

Despite a surprise pickup in exports, HSBC's Chief Asia Economist Frederic Neumann believes that China's economy still faces significant challenges and is unlikely to be supported by further fiscal stimulus. While exports rose by 0.5% in November, imports fell by 0.6%, indicating weak external demand. Neumann suggests that the positive export figure should be taken with caution, as it may be due to inventory adjustments and base effects. He highlights the need for domestic demand to drive growth but notes that there is currently no evidence of a pickup. The Chinese government has used fiscal stimulus to support the recovery, but the economic growth numbers are not dire enough to warrant additional measures.