Italian exports to China grow 28%. The photo shows Made-in-Italy deluxe clothing at a Milan shop. [CFP]

Italian exports to China increased by 28.1 percent in February, according to preliminary data on the country's foreign trade trends released on Monday by Italy's national statistics office, Istat.

Istat's data showed that in February exports to the extra-European Union area rose 2.3 percent and imports 10.4 percent compared with the same month of the previous year.

This is positive news for Italy, indicating an exit from recession. National exports suffered from the fall in global demand, but are now showing the first signs of revival.

However, according to some economists, the recovery is slow and uncertain, hindered by the many obstacles the country's small and medium-sized enterprises face in penetrating foreign markets.

In the first two months of 2010, compared with the same period of 2009, extra-EU exports increased 3.3 percent and imports 3.1 percent. The trade balance of January and February was negative by 4.82 billion euros (US$6.51 billion), slightly worse compared to the deficit of 4.72 billion euros recorded in the same period of 2009, Istat said.

Exports to non-European countries expanded, giving a surplus of 2.98 billion euros. In February, exports to Turkey rose 52.3 percent, the Mercosur countries 43.6 percent, India 33.2 percent and China 28.1 percent, reflecting Italy's strategic focus on emerging economies.

At the beginning of March, the Italy-China Foundation stressed that Italian exports to China were the only ones to have grown during the recession because of the Chinese middle class' rising demand for Made-in-Italy products.

Despite a fall in bilateral trade in 2009, Confindiustria, Italy's largest industry association, said it expected the figure to increase this year to US$40 billion.