China’s economy exceeded expectations in the first quarter: It grew by 5.3 percent
[ad_1]
According to National Bureau of Statistics (UIB) data, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 29.63 trillion yuan (approximately 4.17 trillion dollars) in the January-March 2024 period, increasing by 5.3 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.
While the growth rate was above the financial information service Wind’s estimate of 4.9 percent, it was in line with the government’s growth target of “around 5 percent” this year.
While GDP increased by 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of last year, it exceeded the 1.2 percent increase in the previous quarter.
The Chinese economy grew by 5.2 percent on an annual basis in 2023.
The economy shows signs of cooling down
The economy shows signs of cooling down
UİB also announced the data set consisting of industrial production, retail sales, fixed capital investments and unemployment figures for the period of March 2024.
March data indicated that the economy was once again in a cooling trend, following signs of recovery in the first two months.
Accordingly, industrial production, which calculates the production output of industrial enterprises with an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan (about 2.76 million dollars), increased by 4.5 percent on an annual basis in March, but performed below the 7 percent increase in January and February.
Retail sales, which are considered the measure of consumption, increased by 3.1 percent, falling behind the 5.5 percent increase in the first two months.
Fixed capital investments, which include infrastructure, real estate, machinery and equipment expenditures, grew by 4.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, exceeding the 4.3 percent increase in the first two months.
The decline in real estate investments continues
The decline in real estate investments continues
Among fixed capital investments, infrastructure investments increased by 6.5 percent and manufacturing investments increased by 9.9 percent, while real estate investments decreased by 9.5 percent, continuing their decline in the last 2 years.
Private capital investments, which are considered an indicator of investor confidence, increased by only 0.5 percent in the first quarter.
The urban unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 point to 5.2 in March compared to the first two months. The youth unemployment rate, which was reported to be 14.6 percent in the first two months, was not announced this month either.
[ad_2]
Source link
