An
employee
works
on
the
assembly
line
of
intelligent
machinery
at
a
workshop
on
March
31,
2024
in
Qingzhou,
Weifang
City,
Shandong
Province
of
China.
Vcg
|
Visual
China
Group
|
Getty
Images
China’s
economy
in
the
first
quarter
grew
faster
than
expected,
official
data
released
Tuesday
by
China’s
National
Bureau
of
Statistics
showed.
Gross
domestic
product
in
the
January
to
March
period
grew
5.3%
compared
to
a
year
ago,
faster
than
the
4.6%
growth
expected
by
economists
polled
by
Reuters,
and
compared
to
the
5.2%
expansion
in
the
fourth
quarter
of
2023.
On
a
quarter-on-quarter
basis,
China’s
GDP
grew
1.6%
in
the
first
quarter,
compared
to
a
Reuters
poll
expectations
of
1.4%
and
a
revised
fourth
quarter
expansion
of
1.2%.
Beijing
has
set
a
2024
growth
target
of
around
5%.
Last
week,
Morgan
Stanley
raised
its
2024
real
GDP
forecast
for
China
to
4.8%,
from
its
previous
expectation
of
4.2%.
The
world’s
second
largest
economy
saw
weak
export
and
inflation
data
earlier
this
month,
with
both
sets
of
data
coming
in
below
expectations.
Industrial
output
for
March
grew
4.5%
year
on
year,
missing
expectations
of
6%.
Retail
sales
grew
3.1%
year
on
year,
lower
than
expectations
of
4.6%.
Unemployment
in
major
cities
inched
down
to
5.2%,
snapping
a
three-month
streak
of
increases.
Immediately
after
the
data
release,
the
offshore
yuan
strengthened
slightly,
before
retreating
from
its
five-month
high
seen
early
Tuesday
to
trade
at
7.2724
against
the
greenback.
This
is
a
breaking
news
story.
Please
check
back
for
updates.
