Hong Kong's goods exports grew 1. 3 percent year on year to 234.1 billion HK dollars (30.0 billion U. S. dollars) in November, and imports grew 6.5 percent, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Monday.

The rises came after a year-on-year decrease of 13.1 percent in exports and a decrease of 10.7 percent in imports in October, the Census and Statistics Department said.

The department said merchandise exports continued to improve in November, registering the first year-on-year increase since October last year.

Imports grew to 254.8 billion HK dollars (32.7 billion U.S. dollars) in Novebmer, leading to a visible trade deficit of 20.7 billion HK dollars (2.7 billion U.S. dollars).

Asian markets continued to fare better than the United States and the European Union. Total exports to Asia as a whole grew 8 percent, with strong increases in exports to Vietnam, South Korea, India and the Chinese mainland.

The Census and Statistics Department said the global economy's ongoing recovery, albeit at a slow and gradual pace, should continue to be conducive to Hong Kong's trade performance in the coming months.

Nevertheless, global economic prospects, particularly those for the advanced economies, are still subject to considerable uncertainty, leaving the external trading environment challenging, the department added.