China's exports have grown year-on-year in August by 7.2 per cent - exceeding predictions - according to the General Administration of Customs.

Analysts had predicted a figure of around 5.5 per cent and this follows on from a rise of 5.1 per cent in July and 3.1 per cent in June. A lot of this success is said to be down to continued demand from the US and export markets.

Imports also went up by seven per cent when compared to August last year, although it had still declined 10.9 per cent from July. This decline in imports, combined with a stronger demand on exports, is seen as a sign of a healthy or recovering economy by experts.

Stephen Green from Standard Chartered Bank said: "China's back. It won't be a strong recovery but it's increasingly clear we've bottomed."

Early data is also showing inflation for August remained down - the consumer-price index lowered to 2.6 per cent year-on-year, a small improvement from July's 2.7 per cent. The positive figures have encouraged optimism and predictions that the government will meet its full-year target of 7.5 per cent for gross domestic product growth.