China's economy continues stable growth within a reasonable range for April. With official April figures in from the National Bureau of Statistics, some sectors did show signs of slowing. CGTN reporter Wang Mengzhen has more.

China's steady economic growth is once again evidenced by a string of fresh April figures. The index of services production increased 7.4% year on year; the total value added for industrial enterprises grew 5.4 %; total retail sales of consumer goods also registered a 7.2% growth. And investment in fixed assets grew by 6.1 percent. However, some figures saw slight slow-downs compared to those in March. Industrial output growth dropped some 3 percentage points.

LIU AIHUA, SPOKESPERSON NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS "One important factor is the largest-scale value added tax cuts implemented from April 1st. To better enjoy benefits of the latest cuts, manufacturers expedited their production and operating activities in March. If we look at the overall industrial output growth from Jan to April, it climbed 6.2 percent, higher than fourth quarter figures from last year."

This comes after better-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter of this year as the world's second biggest economy reported a 6.4% GDP growth rate.

Liu adds that April's data shows the economy is actually becoming more vibrant as the Chinese government is strengthening efforts to rekindle domestic demand.

LIU AIHUA, SPOKESPERSON NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS "In innovation and entrepreneurship, we've witnessed over 18 thousand newly-registered businesses every day in the first four months of 2019. Meanwhile, private sector value reported a 9.1 percent growth for April. Also, both our March and April Manufacturing PMI stayed within expansion ranges."

Another big concern here is whether the current escalation in China-US trade tension and additional tariffs could impact Chinese economic growth.

Liu says the economy is now more capable of resisting external threats.

LIU AIHUA, SPOKESPERSON NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS "First, our economy has strong resilience after China's 40 years of reform and opening-up especially in terms of our industrial systems, human resources and infrastructure building. Secondly, our economy still has huge potential particularly in its consumption market."

WANG MENGZHEN BEIJING "The spokesperson says much of the economic vitality remains to be seen, as the consumption and entrepreneurship still have much potential thanks to the latest cuts in taxes and fees among other supportive measures. Wang Mengzhen, CGTN BEIJING."