KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Malaysia’s exports are expected to rebound and expand by 4.5 per cent in 2024 after a projected 6.4 per cent decline for this year, MIDF Research said.

The research firm said improvement in China’s imports in October signals a more encouraging domestic demand in China, which suggests Malaysia would also report better exports to China in that month.

"If the increased demand from China continues, this would support recovery in external trade in the coming months,” it said in a note today.

China’s customs agency earlier announced that imports in October rose by three per cent year-on-year in US dollar terms although exports fell more than expected, by 6.4 per cent.

MIDF Research said China’s imports from Asean rose by 10.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) with imports sourced from Malaysia expanding strongly by 8.0 per cent (September 2023: -1.4 per cent).

"The surge in October 2023 was the first expansion since February 2023, contributing 27.1 per cent of China’s imports value from Asean,” it said.

Overall, China’s imports rebounded by 3.0 per cent y-o-y (September 2023: -6.3 per cent y-o-y), up for the first time after seven consecutive months of contraction.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, imports into China declined 1.4 per cent (September 2023: up 2.2 per cent m-o-m) after two months of expansion. — Bernama