Beijing, April 16: China`s economy grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
Annual gross domestic product growth fell to 6.1 percent, down from 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and slightly below economists` forecasts of a 6.3 percent rise.
That marks the weakest growth since quarterly records began in 1992.
Growth was dragged down largely by a sharp fall in exports in the first three months, but was offset somewhat by the implementation of the government`s 4 trillion yuan USD 585 billion stimulus package, which helped prompt a surge in lending in the first quarter.
Annual growth in urban fixed-asset investment surged unexpectedly to 28.6 percent in the first three months, while industrial output growth rebounded to 8.3 percent in March, from a record low 3.8 percent in the first two months of the year.
"The overall national economy showed positive changes, with better performance than expected," Li Xiaochao, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a news conference on Thursday.
Still, Li said the drop in exports was leading to falling corporate profits, reducing government revenues and increasing difficulties in creating jobs.
"The national economy is confronted with the pressure of a slowdown," he said.
Bureau Report
