China's economic statistics for the first quarter show that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased 6.1 percent during the period. That was lower than the 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. But a senior central bank official says the country's economy has been showing signs of a general recovery.

Figures show China's GDP growth was slowing down during the past year. And in the first quarter of this year, the growth rate fell to 6.1 percent. That's compared with 10.6 percent growth during the same period in 2008. The 6.1 quarterly GDP figure is the lowest recorded since China started collecting quarterly figures in 1992. The vice governor of the People's Bank of China -- Yi Gang -- says the drop was calculated on a year-on-year basis. But he says that when comparing monthly figures, it is apparent that the economy was WARMING UP during the first quarter.

Yi Gang, vice governor of People's Bank of China, says, "the average monthly growth during the fourth quarter of last year was about 1.2 to 1.5 percent. But monthly growth during the first quarter of this year was about 7 percent. The figures are expected to increase further in the second quarter. An economic recovery is very obvious."

The vice governor says the recovery is also evident by other economic data. Overall fixed asset investment rose by nearly 29 percent year on year during the first quarter. That's higher than the growth rate for the fourth quarter of last year. Meanwhile, total retail sales and the added value of industries also rose significantly between January and March.

(CCTV April 24, 2009)