Even if China's first-quarter gross domestic product figures were the worst in nearly two decades, a volley of new data published yesterday indicated that heavy government spending has already pulled the economy out of the worst part of the downturn.

On the back of a surge in bank loans to government-mandated infrastructure projects, fixed-asset investment rose sharply in March compared with the year before, while growth in industrial production also accelerated last month. Electricity consumption, which slumped in recent months, has also stabilised.

Although GDP growth of 6.1 per cent in the first three months of 2009 from a year earlier was the lowest since the government began publishing quarterly figures in 1992, economists said the result represented an upturn.