China's first quarter GDP growth stable at 6.4 percent year-on-year, beats Reuters's slowdown expectations
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People go through a transition near Beijing's central business area By Kevin Yao and Lusha Zhang
BEIJING (Reuters) – China's economy grew at a stable 6.4 percent pace in the first quarter of a year earlier, and defied expectations for a downturn, as industrial production went sharply.
The positive results, which also showed faster growth in retail and investment, are likely to add optimism that China's cooling economy may begin to stabilize, alleviating some investor anxiety over atomic global demand.
But analysts say it is too early to call a sustainable impact, and there is probably a need for political support.
Analysts asked by Reuters had expected growth to drop slightly to 6.3 percent in the January-March quarter, slowly slowing for at least 27 years.
China's economy now sees several positive factors, although it is still facing many external uncertainties, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday in a statement along with the data.
Industrial production jumped 8.5 percent in March from the year before, the fastest pace for over 4-1[ads1] / 2 years. Reading reads analysts' estimates of 5.9 per cent and 5.3 per cent seen in the first two months of the year.
Retail sales rose 8.7 per cent in March, and also hit analysts' estimates of 8.4 per cent growth and the previous 8.2 per cent.
Investments in real estate increased by 6.3 per cent in January to March from the same period the year before, in line with estimates of 6.3 per cent.
Real estate investments rose 11.8 percent in the first three months, up slightly from 11.6 percent in January to February.
Analysts pointed out by Reuters expecting China's economic growth to slow to a close to 30-year low of 6.2 percent this year, as a weak demand at home and abroad, and the trade war in China and the US continues to weigh on activity despite a flurry of political measures.
The Government's goal is to increase economic growth by 6.0-6.5 per cent in 2019.
Quarterly GDP increased in the first quarter by 1.4 per cent, as expected, but dipping from 1.5 per cent in October December.
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