China's gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2016 to reach 15.9 trillion yuan (2.4 trillion U.S. dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. The growth further slowed from the previous quarter's 6.8 percent, which was already the lowest quarterly rate since the global financial crisis.
China's Q1 fixed-asset investment up 10.7 pct
China's fixed-asset investment grew 10.7 percent year on year to about 8.6 trillion yuan (1.32 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2016, official data showed on Friday.
Growth picked up slightly from the 10-percent increase recorded in 2015 and the first two months of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. It marked steady and moderate growth in China's fixed-asset investment, money used to purchase and build factories, machines, property and other fixed facilities.
In breakdown, fixed-asset investment in agriculture was up 25.5 percent in Q1, followed by 12.6 percent for the service sector and 7.3 percent for industry.
State-owned enterprises' investment surged 23.3 percent year on year while investment from the private sector accounted for a whopping 62 percent of the total.
The amount of capital in place for investment increased 6.4 percent in Q1, with the government budget for fixed-asset investment rising 16.9 percent and foreign investment dropping 25.6 percent year on year.
The total planned investment in newly-started projects stood at 8.1 trillion yuan, up 39.5 percent year on year.
China's Q1 retail sales grow 10.3 pct
China's retail sales of consumer goods increased 10.3 percent in the first quarter year on year, official data showed on Friday.
The first-quarter reading was 0.4 percentage points lower than that recorded in the whole of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In March, retail sales were up 10.5 percent year on year, faster than the growth rate in the first two months of this year. Urban consumers contributed the lion's share of the increase though rural consumer spending climbed faster than that by urbanites. January-March online sales rose 27.8 percent year on year, accounting for about 13 percent of gross retail sales, the NBS data showed.
A confluence of factors including rising salaries and lukewarm consumer prices were behind the first-quarter strength. Retail sales have contributed significantly to China's economic growth as the country is shifting from an export-driven economy to a consumer society.
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