China’s economy is on track for ‘strong’ March performance, survey says

BEIJING
—
China’s
economy
is
ending
the
first
quarter
on
a
“strong”
note,
according
to
a
business
survey
published
by
the
China
Beige
Book
on
Thursday.

“The
economy
clearly
improved
in
March,
thanks
to
better
industrial
activity
and
stronger
retail
spending,”
said
Shehzad
H.
Qazi,
chief
operating
officer
at
the
China
Beige
Book,
a
U.S.-based
research
firm.

China’s
official
data
on
retail
sales,
industrial
production
and
fixed
asset
investment
for
January
and
February

beat
expectations
across
the
board.
Figures
for
the
first
two
months
of
the
year
are
typically
reported
together
to
account
for
the
week-long
Lunar
New
Year
holiday,
which
follows
the
agrarian
calendar.

The
China
Beige
Book
said
it
surveyed
1,436
businesses
between
March
1
and
23,
split
roughly
between
state-owned
and
non-state-owned
firms.

“China
Beige
Book’s
March
data
show
the
economy
poised
for
a
strong
end
to
Q1,”
the
report
said.
“Revenue
growth
accelerated
atop
last
month
while
pricing
gains
boosted
margins.”

The
National
Bureau
of
Statistics
is
scheduled
to
release
first
quarter
data
on
April
16.

China
earlier
this
month
announced
the
country
would

target
growth
of
around
5%
for
the
year.
Some
analysts
said
it
was
an
ambitious
target
given
the
current
level
of
announced
government
stimulus.

The
China
Beige
Book
found
that
businesses
have
pulled
back
their
borrowing
due
to
higher
interest
rates,
but
also
observed
signs
of
a
pause
on
the
lending
side.

“Market
observers
have
largely
missed
the
substantial
policy
easing
we’ve
tracked
over
the
past
year,
and
now
some
lenders
may
be
hitting
the
brakes,”
the
report
said.

“Hiring
recorded
its
longest
stretch
of
improvement
since
late
2020,”
the
report
said,
noting
every
sector
except
for
services
saw
job
growth
pick
up.

Retail
spending
increased
in
all
sub-sectors,
except
for
luxury
goods,
the
report
said.

In
real
estate,
the
report
said
that
while
the
residential
sector
still
showed
a
decline
in
sales,
commercial
sales
and
construction
improved
significantly.

Manufacturing
saw
growth
in
production
and
domestic
orders
from
February,
but
export
orders
fell,
the
report
said.

Official
data
showed
investment
into
real
estate
fell
9%
in
the
first
two
months
of
the
year
from
a
year
ago.
Investment
in
infrastructure
rose
by
6.3%
during
that
time,
while
manufacturing
saw
a
9.4%
increase.