China’s economy grew at a record pace in the first quarter, official data showed on Friday, expanding 18.3% from a year earlier as the recovery from the coronavirus slump accelerated. The growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was slower than the 19% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and followed 6.5% growth in the fourth quarter last year. It was the strongest growth since at least 1992 when official quarterly records started. China’s economy has largely recovered from last year’s COVID-19 induced paralysis, fuelled by global vaccination progress, resilient exports and government stimulus. The world’s ... (full story)

China’s economy surged 18.3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, a record rate of growth that was flattered by the coronavirus-induced trough at the start of 2020, but that also reflects continued momentum in the world’s second-largest economy. The rate of gross domestic product growth in the first three months of 2021 was sharply higher than the 6.5% year-over-year growth recorded in the final quarter of 2020, though it fell short of the 19.2% growth expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Analysts had anticipated GDP growth in the first three months of the year to jump sharply when compared ... (full story)