Macro policies: People go about daily business as an electronic board shows China’s first-quarter GDP and previous quarters’ economic data in Shanghai. Retail sales are up by 4.6% in the quarter, versus the 4% growth in the first two months. — Reuters
BEIJING: China’s gross domestic product (GDP) expands to 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter, the same pace as the previous quarter, official data shows, posting a steady recovery despite headwinds and mounting uncertainties.
The country’s GDP grew to 31.88 trillion yuan (US$4.35 trillion) in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s GDP grew by 1.2% in the first quarter, the NBS said.
Despite the improvement in key economic indicators, the NBS warned of pressures from a more complicated and grimmer external environment and lacklustre domestic demand, saying the foundation for sustained recovery is yet to be consolidated.
In the next step, the NBS said the country should implement more proactive and effective macro policies.
More efforts should also be made to stimulate the vitality of market entities of all types and actively respond to uncertainties from the external environment.
Figures released by the NBS showed China’s value-added industrial output rose by 7.7% in March after 5.9% growth in the first two months of the year.
In the first quarter, value-added industrial output grew by 6.5% compared to the same period last year, while in the last quarter of 2024, it rose by 5.7% from a year earlier.
Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, increased by 5.9% compared to the 4% growth in the first two months.
In the first quarter, retail sales rose by 4.6% compared to the same period last year, while in the last quarter of 2024, they surged 3.8% from a year earlier.
Fixed-asset investment, a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment, rose by 4.2% in the first three months, while in the first two months, it grew by 4.1%.
The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.2% in March, down from 5.4% in February, according to the NBS. — China Daily/ANN
