Oil prices turned higher in Asian trade Friday as market sentiment was buoyed by strong Chinese economic growth last year, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, gained 24 cents to 89.83 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for March advanced 18 cents to 96.76 dollars.

Stellar Chinese economic numbers fuelled the crude price rally, said Jason Feer, Asia-Pacific vice-president and general manager of Argus Media in Singapore.

"It's probably the surprisingly high growth numbers coming out of China, indicating that demand is strong," he told AFP, referring to the world's biggest energy consumer.

China said Thursday that its economy grew a blistering 10.3 percent in 2010, marking the fastest annual pace since the onset of the financial crisis in late 2008.

The 2010 figure, up from a revised 9.2 percent growth in 2009, highlighted China's powerful performance in a year when it overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy behind the United States.