Recession fears ease on Japan export boost

TOKYO: Japan's exports rose by the most in seven years in November as China led growth in demand from Asia, reducing worries that the Japanese economy will fall into another recession next year.

Strong growth in China and the rest of Asia is set to continue to support exports next year, economists say, and that will likely be enough to compensate for weak domestic demand.

"I'd say the recovery in exports so far this year has been close to the best scenario we had thought of at the beginning of the year," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities in Tokyo.