China growth slows to 7.7% in Q1

Agence France-Presse

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The economy of the world's second largest slowed to 7.7% in the first quarter -- a shock result that came in below expectation

SHOCKING. China's economy grows slower in the first quarter amid expectations it will pick up. Photo by AFP

BEIJING, China – China’s economic growth slowed to 7.7% in the first quarter, the government said Monday, April 15, a shock result that came in below expectation.

The figure, announced by the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a median 8% forecast in a poll of 12 economists by AFP.

China’s economy — the world’s second-largest — expanded 7.9% in the 4th quarter of 2012.

In a statement the NBS cited “the complicated and volatile economic environment at home and abroad”.

China’s ruling Communist Party and government were committed to “making progress while ensuring stability”, it said.

China’s economy grew 7.8% in 2012, its slowest rate in 13 years, and authorities have kept their growth target for 2013 at a conservative 7.5%.

The 7.9% attained in the final quarter of last year, which snapped seven straight quarters of slowing growth, had raised hopes of a stable recovery as other major economies remain relatively weak.

Industrial production rose 8.9% year-on-year in March and 9.5% in the first quarter, the NBS said, while retail sales were up 12.6% in the month and 12.4% in the first quarter.

China’s leaders have vowed to rebalance the economy away from reliance on traditional growth drivers investment and exports and towards consumer demand.

But fixed-asset investment, a key measure of government spending on infrastructure, jumped 20.9% in the first quarter from the same period in 2012, the NBS said. – Rappler.com

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