China’s Exports Buoy Growth as IPhone Inflates Imports

China’s slowing economy received a shot in the arm from faster export growth in September, with external demand spilling over to boost imports for processing and re-shipment of goods such as the iPhone 6.

Exports increased 15.3 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase since February 2013 and beating the 12 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Imports rose 7 percent, against projections for a 2 percent decline, leaving a trade surplus of about $31 billion, data from the Beijing-based customs administration today showed.