China’s economy grew an annualized 4.5% in this year’s first quarter, its fastest rate of expansion in a year.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% from a year ago, which was better than the 4% consensus forecast of economists polled by the Reuters News Agency.
China’s economy grew 2.2% in Q1 from the previous fourth quarter of 2022.
The strong economic growth comes as China emerges from Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions that were in place for nearly three years.
Retail sales in the nation of 1.4 billion people rose 10.6% in March, while industrial output increased 3.9% during the month.
The value of China’s services sector rose 5.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier as the economy ended its strict zero-Covid-19 policies.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) said that China’s Q1 growth of 4.5% supports its full-year forecast for the country’s economy to grow 6%.
