China's GDP increases in the first quarter, well beyond expectations. But concerns remain for the future of the Chinese economy which faces critical issues for both internal and external factors. And so, it is the Beijing authorities themselves who cautiously comment on the GDP figure released on April 18: growth of 4,8% on an annual basis against 4% in the previous quarter.
GDP growth in China, slowdown in March
The Chinese economy it faces "major challenges" and "multiple trials linked to a global situation increasingly difficult and complex and frequent outbreaks of epidemics” in China, said a head of the National Bureau of Statistics, Fu Linghui.
The increase in GDP compared to that of the previous quarter was instead 1,3%, lower than that recorded in the period October-December 2021 on the third, equal to 1,6%. The main alarm bell, at least for the month of April, was a new wave of Covid19 cases in China which led to the isolation of Shanghai (26 million inhabitants), with problems for supply lines and industrial production.
GDP growth in China, sectors slowing down
In March, retail sales in China, the main indicator of household spending, fell by 3,5% compared to March 2021, after an unexpected acceleration recorded in the previous months (+6,7% in February +January).
Industrial production stood at +5% on an annual basis against +7,5% in the first two months of the year. Unemployment instead increased to 5,8% against 5,5% in January and February, in any case below the peak of 6,2% reached in February 2020 when the pandemic in China was at its peak.
After the release of a quarterly reading on China's economic growth that exceeded expectations, Chinese stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzen trimmed their initial losses. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0,63% while the Dow Jones Shenzen Index lost 0,51%. And while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange remains closed today, that of Tokyo has not followed this trend and indeed the initial drop has worsened: the Nikkei 225 index is down by 1,83.
