BEIJING (Reuters) - China's outbound shipments likely rose at a faster pace in October, buoyed by better weather and steep discounts even as manufacturers and other major exporters report a drop off in global demand.Trade data for October is expected to show exports grew 5.2% year-on-year by value, according to the median forecast of 34 economists in a Reuters poll, up from a 2.4% increase in SeptemberImports likely shrank 1.5% last month, more than reversing a 0.3% gain in September. The data will be released on Thursday.Analysts suspect factory owners are still slashing prices to find buyers and that better weather last month enabled producers to send out delayed orders, with trade data from South Korea and Taiwan pointing to cooling global demand.German manufacturers have also reported they are struggling to find buyers overseas.Moreover, Chinese factory owners have been rushing out orders ahead of the U.S. presidential election, which is almost certain to result in more American curbs on Chinese goods, whoever wins.But they have also had help from a positive turn in the weather."We believe exports rebounded from the disruptions in September, notably extreme weather events," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, which forecast an increase of 6.5%, one of the highest.Natural disasters, from super typhoons to floods, cost China 230 billion yuan ($32.23 billion) in direct economic losses over the third quarter, according to data from the Ministry of Emergency Management.In contrast, Barclays (LON:BARC) expects China's export growth to have slowed further last month, with the lowest forecast of just 2%.investing.com