China's trade surplus increased 102.9% year on year to $75.42 billion in November - rising from $37.18 billion in the same month the previous year, according to China's General Administration of Customs on Monday.

This is China's largest trade surplus since 1981 and beat market expectations of $53.5 billion. Last month was also the sixth consecutive month of export growth - with China's factories continuing to capitalize on coronavirus lockdowns in the West.

Louis Kuijs, an economist with Oxford Economics, expects an international economic rebound to underpin solid export growth for China in 2021. But its performance will be less impressive as pandemic purchases taper off once vaccines reduce the need for social distancing.

China's exports grew by 21.1% year on year to $268.07 billion in November following an 11.4% gain a month earlier and well above a market consensus of 12% growth. Customs said November's shipments were $268 billion.

While some countries had to lock down or reduce manufacturing capacity, China made robust shipments of electronic products and medical supplies over the past several months. 

China's shipments of electronic goods increased by 24.81% on year to $166 billion in November. Medical equipment exports rose 38%, plastic products 112% and lighting gear 47%. 

The U.S. was the biggest market for goods from China in November - with purchases at $51.9 billion - an increase of 46% on year. 

"Outbound shipments remained strong thanks to a surge in global demand for Chinese-made consumer goods such as electronic products. Exports of other goods were still much more subdued," Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist with Capital Economics, told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

China's imports increased by 4.5% on year to $192.65 billion. Despite being lower than a 7% consensus forecast it represents the third consecutive month of import growth.

China's purchases of soybeans increased by 15.8% from a year earlier to 9.59 million metric tons as more American cargoes arrived in the fourth quarter.

Customs said the trade surplus with the U.S. widened to a record of $37.4 billion in November from $31.37 billion in October.

"Many COVID-related purchases won't happen again and we eventually expect a global rotation from goods to services consumption as vaccine availability reduces the need for social distancing," Kuijs said.

"This will weigh on China's export performance relative to global demand, after the market share gains in 2020."