A CHINESE government spokesman said he gave "incorrect" and "groundless" investment data sourced from the Internet at a briefing yesterday, underscoring concern at the credibility of official numbers.

Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman and head of the statistics department at the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs, said in a statement yesterday that he "expresses deep apologies" for citing unconfirmed investment data from online sources he didn't identify.

Zheng was referring to remarks he made at a customs administration press conference on Wednesday where he also acknowledged concerns that China's export data may be overstated. During the briefing, held to discuss March and first-quarter trade figures, Zheng said the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planning agency, had approved 7 trillion yuan (US$1.1 billion) of investment projects in the fourth quarter of 2012, including new roads, railroads and airports.

He gave the figure when discussing the improvement in first-quarter trade to illustrate the recovery in China's economic growth.

"The information was sourced from relevant reports on the Internet, which were groundless and must be corrected," Zheng said in a seven-line statement on the agency's website.

China's exports rose less than forecast for the first time in four months in March.