Chinese imports and exports both fell in November, official data showed Tuesday, the latest poor figures from the world's second-largest economy.

The country is a key driver of global growth and its shipments of finished goods, along with its demand for the resources to manufacture them, affect nations across the world.

Exports sank 6.8 percent year-on-year to $197.2 billion in November, Customs said -- a marginal improvement on the previous month, but worse than the five percent drop forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists.

Overseas shipments have been declining every month this year except for February, when the figures were skewed by the Chinese New Year.

Imports tumbled 8.7 percent to $143.1 billion -- the 13th straight month of declines, but narrowing significantly from an 18.8 percent slump in October.

The figure was better than the 11.9 percent drop estimated in the Bloomberg survey.

Analysts attributed the slower fall to Beijing's monetary easing policies and the slump in global commodity prices late last year, which lowered the basis for comparison.

"Although disappointing exports data suggest that foreign demand remains subdued, a recovery in imports hints at a policy-driven pick-up in domestic demand," wrote Julian Evans-Pritchard with research firm Capital Economics in a note.

The government has turned to monetary loosening to stimulate growth, cutting interest rates six times since November last year.

Louis Kuijs, an analyst with Oxford Economics, said the import figures indicated "a stabilisation of domestic demand momentum", while the exports data showed the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers had been undermined by rivals' currencies such as the euro and yen depreciating against the dollar.

"China's November export data suggest that global demand remains weak and Chinese manufacturing is feeling the brunt of a relatively strong currency," he said in a report.

- Shares fall -

Concerns have been mounting among investors worldwide over China's economy, which expanded 6.9 percent in the July-September period according to official figures -- its slowest rate since the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

But those statistics are widely doubted and many analysts believe the real rate of growth could be several percentage points lower.

Annual growth weakened to 7.3 percent last year, the slowest pace since 1990, as traditional drivers such as exports and investment increasingly run out of steam.

Analysts and Chinese politicians say the country needs to rebalance away from reliance on exports and fixed-asset investment towards a consumer-driven economy.

But state intervention struggled to halt a stock market rout this summer, increasing doubts over policymakers' ability to transition to a more market-based economy.

The trade surplus stood at $54.1 billion in November, down from $61.6 billion recorded in October, according to official figures.

Foreign exchange reserves, the world's biggest, declined to $3.44 trillion last month, their lowest level in nearly three years, official data showed Monday, with analysts blaming "record" capital outflow on expectations the yuan, or Renminbi (RMB), will depreciate.

But ANZ economists said Tuesday the sizeable monthly trade surpluses should "help offset capital outflows and fend off depreciation pressure on the RMB".

However the yuan's exchange rate was "bound to become more volatile going forward" as China continues loosening its currency regime, they said in a note.

The International Monetary Fund decided last week to include the yuan in its elite reserve currency basket, after a long campaign by Beijing.

China has pledged to move towards making the yuan fully convertible by 2020, without setting an absolute target.

The gloomy trade figures sent Chinese stocks down Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closing down 1.89 percent at 3,470.07.

The government is scheduled to release other key economic indicators for November later this week, including inflation on Wednesday and fixed-asset investment and industrial output at the weekend.

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ANZ - AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP