The country’s GDP grew 4.8% year-on-year during January to March, picking up pace from the 4% growth in the fourth quarter of last year.
The country’s GDP grew 4.8% year-on-year during January to March, picking up pace from the 4% growth in the fourth quarter of last year.
China’s economy grew at 4.8% in the first quarter, falling below the 5.5% target set for this year by the ruling Communist Party, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that has hit top business centers such as Shanghai for a long time. Inspired to implement the lockdown till
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the country’s GDP grew by 4.8% year-on-year during January to March, picking up pace from a 4% growth in the fourth quarter of last year.
NBS spokesman Fu Linghui told a news conference that the world’s second-largest economy posted a steady performance with continued improvement as China ramped up epidemic control and balanced economic and social growth.
After a strong rebound in 2021, China faced some unexpected challenges earlier this year, including a Unstable global situation and several sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks On the domestic front, he said.
Downward economic pressure is mounting and some key indicators have seen slow growth, Mr. Fu said.
“But the long-term economic fundamentals are strong and the sustained pace of economic recovery has not changed,” Mr. Fu said, adding that the country is confident and capable of overcoming these difficulties.
A breakdown of Monday’s data shows value-added industrial production posted a steady 6.5% growth in the first quarter compared to a year ago, and real estate investment grew 9.3%. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.3%.
The surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.5% in January-March, with 2.85 million new urban jobs created in the period.
Earlier, China has set its GDP growth target for 2022 at around 5.5% to focus on slowing growth to stabilize its economic infrastructure this year, as the world’s second-largest economy faces strong headwinds. Supportive measures have been taken to enhance the development against
“We should be aware that the domestic and international environment is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain, and that economic growth is posing significant difficulties and challenges,” Fu said on the Q1 figures.
“With regards to the next phase trend, although there is some pressure on the economy in the short term…
The current surge of the Omicron virus in China, sending one city after another into prolonged lockdown, was largely expected to have an adverse impact on the economy.
The lockdown was imposed in Shanghai, China’s biggest business and economic center after big cities like Xian and Shenzhen.
The city is in the third week of lockdown. The city of 26 million came to a standstill as it reported 30,000 cases in a row over the past two weeks, with no shortage.
“Q1 GDP growth is strong. But China’s economy slowed sharply in March due to the outbreak of COVID in many cities. “The downside of retail sales growth is the decline in consumption,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“China’s GDP growth of 4.8% in the first quarter of 2022 exceeds our expectation. We think this primarily reflects the growth seen in the official January-February figures before economic activity weakened in March,” said Tommy Wu, chief China economist at Oxford Economics, commenting on the Q1 data.
“March activity data suggest China’s economy slowed, particularly in domestic consumption, amid lockdowns in Shenzhen and Shanghai as well as mobility restrictions imposed in different parts of China,” he said. south china morning post,
“We expect a strong macro-policy response to drive growth in the second quarter, but the impact will be limited in terms of limited dynamics. The effectiveness of the policy stimulus will depend on whether mobility will still be restricted on a broader scale, so the risks to the approach remain skewed to the downside,” he said.
Last Friday, China’s central bank cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR), or amount of cash, in a much-anticipated move that banks must reserve to shore up its slowing economy amid rising headwinds.
According to Q1 data, China’s retail sales of consumer goods, a key indicator of the country’s consumption strength, grew 3.3% year over year.
NBS data said retail sales of consumer goods in the country stood at about 10.87 trillion yuan (about US$1.7 trillion) during the period.
Also, China’s investment in property development grew 0.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022.
During this period, asset investment was approximately 2.78 trillion yuan (about US$435.44 billion). NBS data shown.
Investment in residential buildings rose 0.7 percent annually to about 2.08 trillion yuan in the January-March period.