6.6% from a year ago. The country’s rare earths imports declined over 20% from the year before to 11,327 tons. The country announced a new policy in July to step up its oversight of the domestic rare earths industry over national security concerns. China’s steel exports last month surged by 16% from a year ago to 9.28 million tons. The country’s steel exports have been surging this year and are expected to cross 100 million metric ton mark, matching levels last seen in 2016. Bumpy recovery Exports have been a rare bright spot for the world’s second-largest economy that has been marred with lackluster domestic consumption and a prolonged housing downturn. The year-to-date exports in U.S. dollar term rose 5.4% to $3.24 trillion, while imports increased 1.2% to $2.36 trillion from a year ago, according to the customs data released Tuesday. The November trade data came a day after China’s top leadership pledged to ramp up monetary and fiscal policy stimulus to boost growth next year, and promised “unconventional counter-cyclical adjustments” to bolster domestic consumption demand. Export growth could further pick up going into early 2025, as U.S. importers continue to “front load” Chinese purchases, said Erica Tay, director of macro research at Maybank, while pointing out there could be “a fall-off in the second half” of next year, as U.S. tariffs bite. Manufacturing activity in the country expanded for a second straight month in November, with the official purchasing managers’ index rising to 50.3, as Beijing’s existing stimulus measures helped lift certain aspects of the ailing economy. Domestic demand though has remained soft. China’s consumer inflation fell to a five-month low in November, climbing 0.2% from a year earlier, official data on Monday showed.