MADRID, 18 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

China's gross domestic product (GDP) significantly accelerated its rate of expansion between January and March, when it grew by 2.2% compared to the previous quarter, when activity increased by 0.6%, after the lifting of restrictions due to the Covid-19, according to data published by the National Statistics Office (ONE).

Compared to the same period in 2022, GDP growth in the world's second-largest economy reached 4.5% year-on-year, up from 2.9% in the previous three months and exceeding the analyst consensus forecast of 4%.

In the first three months of 2023, China's GDP reached 28.499 trillion yuan (3.8 trillion euros), with primary industry value-added growth of 3.7% year-on-year, as well as 3.3 % in the secondary sector and 5.4% in the tertiary sector (services), which represented 55% of the country's economic activity.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China highlighted the GDP growth in the first quarter in the face of the "harsh and complex" international environment, as well as the arduous internal reform, development and stability tasks implemented in all regions and departments to accelerate the construction of a new pattern of development and focus on promoting high-quality growth.

In this sense, he stressed the "rapid transition" towards the reopening of China after the end of the 'Covid zero' policy that has allowed the stabilization of production demand, as well as employment and prices in general. "Market expectations have improved significantly and the economy is off to a good start," she said.

From the consultancy Capital Economics, Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior analyst for China, highlighted that the latest data suggests that the Chinese economy was still recovering rapidly at the end of the first quarter, suggesting that the rebound in activity has continued until April. , despite the fact that the industry seems to have lost some momentum.

"The speed of the recovery has exceeded even our relatively optimistic expectations," acknowledged the expert, who has raised his forecast for the whole of 2023 to 6% from the 5.5% he forecast in January.

"In practice, growth is likely to be even higher given that official GDP figures underestimated the extent of last year's recession," he said.