China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2024, reaching 29.63 trillion yuan ($4.17 trillion), data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday.

The country's value-added industrial output, an important indicator measuring the activity of enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan, went up 6.1 percent compared to the same period last year. 

Meanwhile, retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, climbed 4.7 percent; fixed-asset investment rose 4.5 percent year on year; and surveyed urban unemployment rate on average stood at 5.2 percent, 0.3 percentage point lower than the same period last year.

China's economy was off to a strong start in the first quarter of 2024, according to Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the NBS. The country's production demand picked up, with employment and prices remaining stable, and market confidence strengthening, Sheng said.

Despite the high-base effect, the latest data suggests that the economy expanded at a much faster pace than forecasted in the first quarter, said Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research at JLL Greater China.

Policy push of equipment investment as well as product renewal and replacement, would continue to provide a boost to domestic demand and keep the annual GDP target of around 5 percent achievable, he added.

China's growth performance in the first quarter is much higher than overall market expectations, said Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ Bank. In view of the improved first-quarter performance, ANZ has revised its 2024 China growth forecast upwards, according to Yeung.

He also noted that the overall structural reform in the country has encouraged spending and led to a boom in the consumption sector, especially in the first two months of the year. 

(Cover via CFP)