China's economy grew 7.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed on Wednesday.

The NBS said that preliminary data showed the nation's gross domestic product reached 12.8213 trillion yuan (2.08 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter.

The figures suggest growth in the world's second-largest economy was generally stable, and mark a nice beginning for the year of 2014, as Chinese authorities promoted reforms, innovation, restructuring and improvement of people's well-being.

The first-quarter growth exceeded market estimates of 7.3 percent.

However, it slowed compared to the 7.7-percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, and marked the lowest quarterly growth level since the third quarter of 2012. But even so, the figure still far outperformed the 6.6-percent growth in the first quarter of 2009, when the global financial crisis wreaked havoc.

Economists said the weaker growth suggested heavier downward pressure on the economy, but that the growth rate was still within a reasonable range.

The economic slowdown came amid a generally mild inflation rate in the first quarter, with the consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rising 2.4 percent in March.

Earlier data also showed the country's exports and imports declined 1 percent year on year to 965.88 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter while power consumption rose 5.4 percent year on year, though the March figure picked up steam and rose 7.2 percent. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)