Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 113.357 billion yen in November, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, cited by rttnews - down 22.6 percent on year.

The headline figure beat forecasts for a deficit of 40.0 billion yen following the 285.4 billion yen surplus in October.

Exports were up 16.2 percent on year to 6.930 trillion yen, topping expectations for a gain of 14.7 percent following the 14.0 percent gain in the previous month.

Exports to Asia advanced 20.4 percent on year to 3.894 trillion yen, while exports to China alone jumped an annual 25.1 percent to 1.379 trillion yen.