Taiwan Province's export orders probably grew in May at a similar pace to April as electronics demand in China, the island's biggest overseas market, offset weaker sales to the US.

Export orders, indicative of actual shipments in one-to-three months, climbed 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 10 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Export orders advanced 11.3 percent in April from a year earlier. The report is due at 4 pm in Taipei today.

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"As the mainland's economic growth almost tripled Taiwan's expansion in the first quarter, it's inevitable Taiwan's exports to the mainland will keep on rising," said Charles Chen, an economist who helps manage the equivalent of $3.7 billion at JF Asset Management Co in Taipei. "The mainland's strong import growth no doubt has benefited Taiwan's exports."

Increased sales of liquid-crystal displays and personal computers to the mainland may help Taiwan's economy weather slowing demand from the US, the island's second-biggest export market. 

Rising incomes are stoking consumption in the mainland, where the world's fastest-growing major economy expanded 11.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

The mainland's imports from the rest of the world rose 19.1 percent in May from a year earlier after increasing 21.3 percent in the previous month.

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