Germany's exports in September increased by 2.3 percent from the previous month to 109.8 billion euros (130.3 billion U.S. dollars), the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced.

German exports continued to recover after the slump due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, compared with February, the month before restrictions were imposed in Germany, exports were still 7.7 percent below the pre-crisis level, according to Destatis.

"The catch-up process is still not complete" as both exports and imports were still significantly below pre-crisis levels, Christian Grimme, an economist at the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, told Xinhua on Monday.

Germany's exports to the member states of the European Union (EU) in September decreased by 3.3 percent year-on-year to 59.1 billion euros, while exports of goods to countries outside the EU declined by 4.4 percent to 50.7 billion euros, according to Destatis.

Germany's exports to the United States, which were "hit particularly hard" by the COVID-19 pandemic, dropped by 5.8 percent compared with the previous year, while exports to China in September even increased by 10.6 percent to 8.5 billion euros, according to Destatis.

At the same time, more imports came to Germany from China in September, Destatis noted. Imports from China rose by 3 percent year-on-year to 9.7 billion euros.

"Bilateral trade with China has already returned to pre-crisis levels," Grimme said, adding that the development was mainly due to the earlier recovery in China and the "high German demand" for medical protective equipment and electronic devices. (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollars) Enditem