China’s gross domestic product grew 4.5 per cent year on year in the first quarter, as strong growth in exports and infrastructure investment and a rebound in property prices drove a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
The figure, which exceeded analyst expectations of a 4 per cent rise, according to a Bloomberg poll, followed efforts by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government to restore business confidence damaged by pandemic controls last year and abrupt policy changes.
The January-March growth rate was still short of the government’s full-year target of 5 per cent, held back by a nationwide Covid-19 outbreak this year, but economists expected it to pick up pace as the year progresses.
Xi, who formally embarked on an unprecedented third term as China’s president last month, is keen to revive economic growth, which slowed to just 3 per cent last year, missing the official target of 5.5 per cent which was already the lowest in decades.
“Definitely, the recovery’s on track,” said Tao Wang, UBS chief China economist. “The momentum at the beginning of the year was stronger than expected.”
