Spend more to boost economy: Official

China needs more stimulus measures in addition to its 4-trillion-yuan ($586 billion) package to boost the economy amid the global financial crisis, a top policy advisor said yesterday.

Zheng Xinli, vice-director of the Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, said the economic downturn was already bottoming out in the country but "it's still necessary to increase the investment to bolster the sagging economy".

China's GDP in the first quarter of this year will be higher than the 6.8 percent year-on-year growth recorded in the fourth quarter 2008, Zheng said on the sidelines of the annual sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened on Tuesday.