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

The NBS data show auto output plummeted 18.9 percent year on year to 686,000 units in December last year.

The stockpiles of iron ores, crude oil and other raw materials have been used up, said Li.

While there have been positive signs in China's economy, the country is still facing a serious situation, said Li.

He quoted Commerce Minister Chen Deming as saying "the global financial crisis has not bottomed out and its impact is deepening on China".

Meanwhile, many Chinese industries face the problem of oversupply and prices may go down again as enterprises start to resume production, said Li.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, fell to minus 1.6 percent year on year in February, while the producer price index measuring inflation at a wholesale level fell 4.5 percent year on year, the NBS said Tuesday.