China posts record economic growth after plunge 12 months ago

But quarterly comparison shows slowing momentum, with analysts forecasting levelling off in construction and exports.

China’s economy posted a record growth rate in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, when the country was in the midst of a crushing lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus. But compared with the last quarter of 2020, the growth rate slowed, official figures show, raising questions about the strength of the recovery over the rest of this year. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 18.3 percent in the first three months of 2021 year-on-year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The figure was slower than the 19 percent growth rate forecast by economists in a poll conducted by the Reuters news agency and 18.5 percent by Bloomberg.