China’s economy beats expectations, growing 5.3 percent in first quarter
Al Jazeera
Statistics agency says economy has made ‘good start’ to the year under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year, a boost for policymakers grappling with a property-sector crisis, weak consumer demand and mounting government debt.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3 percent in the first quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, comfortably above forecasts and up from a 5.2 percent expansion in the previous quarter.
By sector, industrial production and agriculture grew by 6.1 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, while services grew by 5 percent, according to NBS data.
The NBS said in a statement that the economy had made a “good start” under “the strong leadership” of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping.
“As a result, the policies continued to take effect, production and demands maintained stable and witnessed an increase, employment and prices were generally stable, market confidence continued to boost, and high-quality development made new progress,” the statistics agency said.
