The mood among German exporters is better than it has been for six months.
The corresponding barometer rose in December by 0.7 to plus 1.6 points and thus for the third month in a row, as the Munich Ifo Institute announced on Tuesday in its survey of around 2,300 companies.
This is the best value since June.
"German industry is starting the new year with cautious optimism with regard to its exports," said Ifo President Clemens Fuest.
The automotive industry continues to expect significant growth - albeit slightly less than in the previous month.
The electronics industry, on the other hand, sees more opportunities in foreign business.
The beverage manufacturers also see this after a setback in November.
"However, the chemical industry assumes that export sales will decline," it said.
The same applies to the metal industry.
The furniture industry is also still pessimistic about foreign business.
The Ifo Institute expects German export growth to slow down significantly in the coming year.
It expects an increase of 3.9 percent.
In the year that is coming to an end, on the other hand, growth should be much higher at 14.8 percent.
Rising interest rates worldwide, the energy crisis and high inflation are having a negative impact on business in many important sales markets.
Exporters are hoping for new impetus for foreign business from China's turning away from the tough corona policy, which has repeatedly led to factory closures in recent months.
"However, normalization will not occur overnight in the strained supply relationships, these adjustment processes take time," said the President of the Foreign Trade Association (BGA), Dirk Jandura, recently.
"More reliability in trade relations with China overall is a good sign for German companies, which are currently suffering from severe crises." After all, the People's Republic is Germany's most important trading partner.