Current quarter could be weak, but leading indicators signal improvement

The deceleration of China's economy may continue during the current quarter, but an uptick in some leading indictors point to improvement in the months ahead, an economist from a government think tank said on Friday.

Chen Dongqi, vice-president of the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a news conference that given the time lag between leading indicators and output indicators, a weak April could mean economic improvement may be some time off.