Strong output figures exceeded expectations although the country’s property crisis weighed on growth.
China’s economy expanded by 5.3% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, buoyed by government schemes to boost economic demand.
The figure, up from 1.6% on the previous quarter, beat a Reuters analyst forecast of 4.6%.
“Generally speaking, the national economy got off to a good start in the first quarter… laying a good foundation for… the whole year,” said China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
The agency nonetheless added that economic stability is not yet solid.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, China has struggled with a slowdown in demand and a lengthy property crisis.
In the last few years, several Chinese real estate giants, notably Evergrande and Country Garden, have defaulted on their debts.
The last quarter showed few signs of improvement on this front, with property investment falling by 9.5% year-on-year.
Boosting growth, however, was China’s industrial output, up by 6.1% in the last quarter compared to the same period last year.
Retail sales also grew at an annual pace of 4.7%, whilst fixed investment in factories and equipment was up by 4.5%.
Lunar New Year festivities, which began at the end of January, are also thought to have boosted household spending across the last quarter.
Imports and exports solely from March were nonetheless down compared to the same month last year, with the latter sinking by 7.5%.
Beijing has set a GDP growth target of 5% this year, a historically low goal but one that remains ambitious in the current context.
The latest data comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been in China on a four-day trip to hold talks with the country’s president Xi Jinping.
