Maybe Santa Claus decided to cheer up in November. China's Guangdong province, which reportedly makes more than 70 percent of the artificial Christmas trees in the world, said November exports of Christmas-themed items reached US$39 million, 78.2 percent higher than a year ago.

Further data released by the China Customs this week show, however, that Christmas-related export from Guangdong to the U.S. dropped 16.6 percent during the first 11 months, compared to the same period in 2008. The decline rate is 10.3 percent for Canada and 6.1 percent for the European Union.

Meantime, exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations soared 87.6 percent.

Regardless of the fluctuation, the U.S. remains the largest buyer of Christmas goods from Guangdong with total spending of US$400 million from Jan.-Nov. 2009, followed by the EU (US$180 million). ASEAN countries imported US$27.3 million in total, less than how much U.S. import decreased in the first 11 months.