ZURICH, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The global economy is performing much better than feared, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said on Monday, citing the recovery in China as the main driver.

"If it comes to the last month, we have certainly seen a much better development than we would have expected a few months ago," Kaeser said during an interview at the Reuters Next conference.

"China has been extremely strong, coming out strong from the first wave of (the) COVID-19 pandemic," he said, while adding that it was still too early to say economic problems caused by the coronavirus crisis were over.

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(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Alexander Smith)