China's GDP expands 4.5% year on year in Q1
China's gross domestic product grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.
On a quarterly basis, the economy increased 2.2 percent in the first three months.
"China's national economy made a good start this year, and market expectation saw significant improvement," said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui at a press conference.
China's GDP grew 3 percent year on year in 2022, and 2.9 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of last year.
Retail sales
China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 5.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, the NBS said.
In March alone, retail sales jumped 10.6 percent year on year, data from the NBS showed.
The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 11.49 trillion yuan (US$1.67 trillion) in Q1, the NBS said.
Unemployment rate
China's surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in March, down 0.3 percentage points from February.
The rate among those aged between 25 and 59, the majority of the labor market, stood at 4.3 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities came in at 5.5 percent in March, down 0.2 percentage points month on month, according to the data.
In the first quarter of 2023, China's surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.5 percent, dipping 0.1 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2022, the data showed.
The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who have participated in the employment survey in urban areas, including migrant workers in cities.
Disposable income
China's per capita disposable income stood at 10,870 yuan (US$1,579.6) in the first quarter of 2023, up 5.1 percent year on year in nominal terms.
After deducting price factors, per capita disposable income rose 3.8 percent from the previous year.
Separately, urban per capita disposable income came in at 14,388 yuan, up 4 percent in nominal terms and 2.7 percent in real terms, while income in rural areas stood at 6,131 yuan, up 6.1 percent in nominal terms and 4.8 percent in real terms.
Tuesday's data also showed that China's gross domestic product expanded 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023.
Industrial output
China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.9 percent year on year in March.
In the first quarter, the value-added industrial output increased 3 percent year on year, up 0.3 percentage points from the level in the fourth quarter of 2022, the data showed.
China's industrial production has recovered steadily in the first three months, while business expectations have seen overall improvements, the NBS said.
The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (US$2.91 million).
Fixed-asset investment
China's fixed-asset investment went up 5.1 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year.
The investment totaled about 10.73 trillion yuan (US$1.56 trillion) in the first three months, the bureau said in a statement.
In the January-March period, investment in infrastructure construction increased 8.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, and manufacturing investment saw a 7 percent expansion. However, capital inflows in property development fell 5.8 percent year on year.
Fixed-asset investment from the private sector rose 0.6 percent year on year during the same period.
High-tech industries continued to show sound growth momentum, with investment jumping 16 percent year on year. Specifically, investment into high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services sectors expanded by 15.2 percent and 17.8 percent year on year, respectively.
More financial support was given to improving people's livelihoods, as the investment in public health and education rose by 21.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
