Wang Wenxu says that rise in orders is partly due to the closure of many smaller belt-making companies since late last year and overseas buyers moving orders to bigger firms like Chengda.

The government has raised tax rebates on the export of thousands of items six times since August last year. For belts, the tax rebate rate has risen from 5 percent to 14 percent.

Wang, the analyst, said the month-on-month increase in consumption, along with other indicators like rising industrial output, increasing share prices and fixed-asset investment, was a sign of economic recovery.

China's GDP grew 6.1 percent year on year in the first quarter, the lowest in 10 years. But the government claimed stimulus measures had produced positive results and the first-quarter performance was better than expected.

Wang, however, warns that future power consumption could fluctuate unless power use of power-consuming heavy industries, like steel and mining, stops falling and begins to rise steadily.

Citing falling electricity output in the last 10 days of March and the first 10 days of April, Wang says fluctuating power demand means economic recovery will not be easy.

In the last 10 days of March, China's power generation fell 2 percent year on year, compared with a more than 1-percent increase in the first 10 days of March, according to the Dispatching Center of the State Grid.

The downward trend accelerated in the first 10 days of April, when generation dropped 3.5 percent year on year.

The sharper drop is possibly a reflection of reduced industrial production, Wang says.

The drop in power output in south China, including the biggest export province, Guangdong, accelerated in the first 10 days this month, which he interprets as a poor omen for economic recovery.