China int'l air passenger traffic up 59 pct in Feb

BEIJING, March 3 (Reuters) - Chinese airlines' international passenger traffic grew 59 percent in February from a year earlier, the head of the civil aviation authority said on Wednesday.

Li Jiaxiang, Director-General of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told reporters that both passenger and cargo traffic at Chinese airlines had increased sharply in the first two months of the year, suggesting an apparent recovery in the global economy.

Li was speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of an advisory body to the country's parliament. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Jason Subler; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)