China reports GDP for the first quarter; March industrial production, retail
China on Wednesday released a large number of official financial data that beat expectations, including the expected gross domestic product figure.
Beijing said the economy expanded by 6.4 percent from the first quarter of 2019, peaking at 6.3 percent as analysts asked by Reuters had expected. increased by 6.4 per cent from last year and 6.8 per cent last year The first quarter of 2018.
The economic situation in Asia also released other economic indicators:
- Industrial output jumped 8.5 per cent this year in March ̵[ads1]1; and rose by 5.9 percent, calculated by Reuters, to record the fastest growth since July 2014.
- Retail sales by March increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year, beating Reuters & # 39; forecast 8 , 4 percent.
- Investments in real estate in the first quarter increased by 6.3 percent from the same period this year, in line with expectations.
Investors have been looking at the health of the Chinese economy – the world's second largest – in the midst of Beijing's ongoing trade conflict with Washington, official GDP figures are large degree followed, but many experts have long expressed skepticism about the truth of China's reports.
Nevertheless, a number of recent data – collected in private and official sources – have pointed to an improvement in the Chinese economy, thanks in part to pointing stimulus measures. In March, China reported much higher than expected exports, and an unexpected expansion of its production activity.
That may mean that the Chinese economy may have bottomed out and is now recovering, says Alexander Treves, an investment expert at JP Morgan Asset Management.
"What we are looking for now is what happens in the next nine, 12, 18 months," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" earlier this week.
"This GDP figure is much less important than what we should see over the next few months. And already we have seen some setbacks in revenue, which is unfounded by activity with room for improvement from here," he added.
The tariff fight between China and the United States hit economic activity globally, especially in the second half of last year. It put further pressure on China when the country attempted to weaken its economy by excessive confidence in debt growth, which raised concerns that the Asian giant was heading for a hard landing.
– Reuters contributed to this report.
