As China undergoes a painful rebalancing of an economy that accounts for 16 percent of global GDP – up from below a tenth a decade ago – the International Monetary Fund predicts 5.5 percent growth this year for a region that also includes export powerhouses Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Japan’s exports grew by 0.6 percent from a year earlier in September, the slowest since August last year, data showed on Wednesday, as shipments to China dropped by 3.5 percent.