China's economic growth accelerates to 5% in Q1

China's economic growth accelerated to 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, posting a resilient expansion despite mounting uncertainties.

The growth marks an increase from the 4.5 percent registered in the fourth quarter of last year.

According to the NBS, the country's GDP reached 33.42 trillion yuan ($4.9 trillion) in the first quarter, while on a quarter-on-quarter basis, China's GDP grew by 1.3 percent. 

The bureau noted that the Chinese economy got off to a good start with growth recovery of key macroeconomic indicators and rapid development of new growth drivers.

However, the external environment is becoming more complex and volatile, while the imbalance between strong supply and weak demand is still acute, the NBS said, calling for more proactive and effective macro policies in the next phase.

The country's industrial output expanded by 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 5 percent in the previous quarter, official data showed. In March, the expansion slowed to 5.7 percent from 6.3 percent in the first two months of the year.

Retail sales increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year in March, compared with 2.8 percent in the first two months, the data showed.

Growth in fixed-asset investment was 1.7 percent in the first quarter, a slight dip from the 1.8 percent growth reported in the first two months, according to the NBS.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.4 percent in March, compared with 5.3 percent for the January-February period, according to the NBS.