China's exports in the first eight months of the year fell 22.2 percent from a year earlier, government figures released Friday show, with the latest export figures reflecting still-weak global demand.

At the same time, strong economic data for August gave indications the economy may be recovering.

From January to August, exports totaled $730.74 billion, while imports totaled $607.92 billion, down 22.7 percent from the same period last year, figures by the General Administration of Customs show.

Continuing a downward trend, exports in August fell by 23.4 percent from a year earlier to $103.7 billion. Imports totaled $88 billion, down 17.0 percent.

The trade surplus was $15.7 billion, a fall of 45.2 percent from a year earlier.

But data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics pointed at a strengthening economy, with strong retail sales and industrial output.

Retail sales, the main measure of consumer spending, rose to $148.1 billion in August, an increase of 15.4 percent from a year earlier.

Industrial output accelerated by 12.3 percent in the month, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from July.

But the consumer price index dipped 1.2 percent from a year before.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a speech delivered Thursday at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, said China will not exit its stimulus initiatives to drive domestic demand because the economic recovery remains unstable.

"The foundations of China's economic recovery are not stable, not solidified and unbalanced, and the global economic outlook is uncertain," China Daily quoted Wen as saying.

"The top priority of our work is to maintain stable and quick economic growth, so we will stick to a relatively loose monetary policy and an active fiscal policy," Wen added.