Source: Sharecast
GDP growth stood at 5.4% in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year before, surprising economists who had predicted a slowdown to 5.1%.
Economic expansion was maintained at its strongest annual rate since the second quarter of 2023.
A host of key economic indicators for March also released on Wednesday all came in above forecasts, marking a strong end to the first quarter for the world's second-largest economy.
Fixed asset investment growth accelerated to 4.2% over the January-to-March period, up from 4.1% over December to February, and the highest rate of growth in 11 months.
Industrial production across the country jumped by 7.7% year-on-year last month, compared with the 5.9% growth registered in February and well above the 5.6% consensus forecast. This was the highest rate of annual growth since mid-2021.
Meanwhile, retail sales surged 5.9% compared with last year, following 4.0% growth in February and beating the 4.2% market estimate, marking the strong growth since December 2023.
Analysts at TD Securities said in a note that the March activity data "looks incredulous", and the stronger-than-expected GDP print was "miraculously timely as it puts China's trade negotiators in a position of strength for any trade talks with the US".
Nevertheless, they added: "However, the outlook is still grim as the >100% tariffs between US and China imply that trade flows are likely to cease and China bears a severe hit to GDP at ~3%-pt if there is no trade reallocation."
