In Qingzhou, Weifang City, Shandong Province of China, an employee is diligently working on the assembly line of intelligent machinery at a workshop. This scene is a testament to China’s rapidly growing economy, as evidenced by the official data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on March 31, 2024.
According to the data, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of the year grew by 5.3% compared to the same period in the previous year. This growth exceeded the 4.6% forecast by economists polled by Reuters and marked an acceleration from the 5.2% expansion seen in the fourth quarter of 2023. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s GDP grew by 1.6% in the first quarter, surpassing the 1.4% expected by the Reuters poll. This growth trajectory aligns with Beijing’s target of achieving around 5% growth in 2024.
Despite weak export and inflation data earlier in the month, the Chinese economy continues to show signs of resilience. Industrial output for March increased by 4.5% year on year, falling short of the 6% expected growth. Similarly, retail sales saw a 3.1% year-on-year growth, below expectations of 4.6%. However, despite these challenges, China has managed to maintain low unemployment rates in major cities with a decrease to 5.2%, breaking a three-month streak of increases last week..
Following this news release, Morgan Stanley revised its real GDP forecast for China from 4