China´s top industrial official sees "positive signs" but cautious about recovery

Source: Xinhua | 03-10-2009 15:45

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China's top industrial official said Tuesday he has observed "positive signs" in the economy but warned it's still too early to talk about a recovery.

The country's power consumption and steel and auto output saw as lower decline or a rebound in the January-February period, said the Industry and Information Technology Minister Li Yizhong at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's legislative body.

The volume of power consumption in China continued to dip in the first two months of this year but the downward pace was slower, said Li.

Combined power use in January and February fell 3.7 percent from the same period of last year, compared with a year-on-year drop of 17.5 percent last November and 8.7 percent in December, Li said.

When replying to a journalist seeking his comment on a reported4 percent year-on-year rise in February power use, Li said the figure was yet to be formally released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) but "the 4 percent figure was generally right".