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.
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Li Yizhong, Industry and Information Technology Minister.
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The country's power consumption and steel and auto output saw a slower 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 reported 4 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".
However, the monthly rebound in February was not comparable, as the Spring Festival holiday, which subdues industrial activity, fell in February last year but in January this year, said Li.
The "obviously slowed slump" shows "some positive signs" have emerged in the economy but the situation remains "grim" and the industrial sector is still "in a very difficult situation", he said.
"We must not treat the difficulties lightly or easily talk about a recovery," said Li.
Other indicators pointing to a warming-up industrial production include a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent in unprocessed steel output for the January-February period and 3.1 percent in steel products output, said Li.