JAPAN'S exports rose for a fourth straight month in March as a recovering global economy triggered demand for the nation's autos and gadgets.

Exports jumped 43.5 percent from a year earlier to 6 trillion yen (US$63.5 billion), the government said yesterday.

The figures offer more evidence that robust growth, particularly in Asia, is feeding a turnaround in the world's second-biggest economy, offsetting weak demand and falling prices at home.

Exports rose globally, with those to Asia up 53 percent.

Led by a booming China, the region's robust growth has been key in lifting Japanese corporate profits, factory output and business confidence. The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday that China's economy - which has overtaken the United States to become the biggest market for Japanese exports - would surge 10 percent this year.

Exports to the US grew 30 percent, and those to the European Union rose 27 percent, the finance ministry said.