Oct. 7 – The Asian Development Bank predicts that China’s export are likely to switch from negative to positive growth in the fourth quarter this year.

The government’s policies such as raising export tax rebates and expanding export credit insurance, helped boost exports in the face of the global slowdown. “The massive fiscal stimulus announced last year and the aggressive monetary easing in 2009 has softened the blow of the global slump on the economy,” said Jong-Wha Lee, ADB’s chief economist.

China’s export began to suffer sharp declines last November as the global financial crisis hit home. The country’s export value in the first seven months of 2009 dropped 22 percent.

China’s export fell 23.4 percent in August compared to the same month last year, and the rate of decline was 0.4 percentage point bigger than that of July, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The bank forecast China would see its export down 17.5 percent in 2009 year-on-year, and the export in 2010 could rise 8 percent from 2009. The banks expects China’s growth rate to reach 8.9 percent in 2010.