HONG KONG — China ’s exports returned to growth in November following an unexpected contraction the month before, although shipments to the United States dropped nearly 29% from a year earlier in an eighth straight month of double-digit declines.

Overall exports from China in November were 5.9% higher than last year in dollar terms, according to customs data released Monday, at $330.3 billion, exceeding economists’ estimates. That was an improvement from a 1.1% contraction in October.

Underscoring a widening gap between overall exports and imports, the customs data showed that China’s trade surplus for the first 11 months surpassed the $1 trillion mark, at nearly $1.08 trillion. That’s a record high for any single year and is more than the $992 billion surplus in all of 2024, based on

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