Taiwan's export orders surprisingly shrank in January, as a lull after the 2013 year-end holidays dampened demand in its key markets, raising concerns for its high-tech manufacturers. Asian exporting countries are hopeful that sustained recoveries in the Unites States and European economies will counter a slowdown in the region's largest market, China. But the effects of U.S. monetary tapering and weakened growth in emerging economies risk affecting global consumption trends. Taiwan's orders fell 2.8 percent in January, worse than the 3.3 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll and much lower than the unexpectedly robust 7.4 percent expansion in December. The island's weak orders come as global markets were rattled by a contraction in China's factory activity that will likely affect the region's supply chain. Mainland manufacturing activity shrank in February to a seven-month low as employment fell at the fastest pace in five years, a preliminary private survey showed.  Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs attributed the weak export orders largely to soft demand in the Lunar New Year. Orders from China, Taiwan's largest export market, fell 3.9 percent while those from the United States dropped 5.0 percent. Orders from Europe and Japan rose 2.0 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Taiwan's export orders typically lead actual exports by one to two months, but in recent months the data has diverged significantly from actual exports, which have shown steady decline. The ministry attributed this phenomenon to the fact that export orders include those registered by Taiwanese companies in mainland China, while exports only include those from Taiwan itself. Export figures for January reflected this trend, falling 5.3 percent, largely due to distortions from the Lunar New Year holiday. After a record 2013 for export orders, the first quarter of 2014 is expected to be more subdued, the government said. "The bad weather recently has slowed the recovery pace of U.S. and European economies," the ministry said in a statement. "And China orders could decline as China is pushing for localization of its supply chain and restructuring its economy." Taiwan's tech exporters, which are the main drivers of its export machine, reported mixed results for January sales. Figures from beleaguered computer maker Acer Inc continued their downward slide, plummeting 18.5 percent year-on-year. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, the main manufacturer of Apple Inc products, squeaked out meager growth of only 0.33 percent. But Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported that revenue grew 8.4 percent in January. (Reuters)