By Faith Hung and Roger Tung

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s exports rose more than expected in December, buoyed by robust demand for semiconductors from the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and continued, although weaker, demand from China.

Exports rose 9.2% from the same month a year ago to $43.59 billion, its second-highest level, the finance ministry said on Thursday, beating a forecast of 6.5% growth in a Reuters poll. This increase, although slightly below November’s gain of 9.7%, marked the 14th straight monthly rise.

The ministry said the growth outlook into the first quarter was stable due to demand for semiconductors for AI, but noted that January exports could fall between 1% and 4% year on year because of the long Chinese lunar new year holiday.

People in China typically travel to their hometowns ahead of the festival, starting on January 29 this year, leading many businesses to close for an extended period.

China is Taiwan’s biggest trading partner.

The fourth quarter is traditionally strong for Taiwan’s exports due to the peak end-of-year shopping season in the U.S. and Europe.

Taiwan firms such as TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, are major suppliers to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), and other tech giants.

In December, exports to the United States rose 16.0% year on year to $9.845 billion, contrasting with a 10.6% gain in November.

Exports to China rose 3.6%, slowing after a jump of 9.5% the previous month. China’s $18 trillion economy is struggling to recover from the pandemic, with manufacturing activity barely growing in December, according to official Chinese data.

Taiwan’s total exports of electronic components rose 8.6% in December to $17.21 billion, with semiconductor exports up 9.4%.

Imports rose 30.4% to $37.51 billion in December, faster than economists’ forecasts for a gain of 15.1%.