China's economy has passed the worst and recovery will pick up momentum next year, according to a prominent Chinese economist.

Yao Jingyuan, chief economist at the National Bureau of Statistics, identified November 2008 to February 2009 as the trough for the recession. But he believed that China's current economic recovery is gaining speed, which will set the stage for faster growth in 2010.

China's GDP is expected to grow by about 8.3 percent year on year for 2009, according to a report released earlier by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China's premium income in the first nine months rose 8.1 percent from a year earlier to 125.63 billion U.S. dollars, fiscal revenue rose 33 percent from a year earlier to 82.13 billion dollars in September, new yuan-denominated loans in September rose to 75.68 billion dollars from August's 60.1 billion, and foreign exchange reserve hit a new high of 2.27 trillion dollars by the end of September, up 19.26 percent year on year, according to statistics released by the government last week.