China’s first quarter GDP up by 10.6 percent

Posted by Reading Time: < 1 minute

April 16- China’s gross domestic product for the first three months of the year till March 31 grew by 10.6 percent. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the figure is lower than last year’s 11.7 percent during the same period.

The slight slowdown has been attributed to the prolonged winter season that led to factories being shut, damaged crops and disrupted exports. The mortgage crisis that has placed the United States into recession is also another factor to blame. Although sources say that the figure bodes well for the Chinese economy’s stability as this is the ninth straight quarter that it grew by more than 10 percent.

“China’s resilient growth will benefit the rest of Asia and be a major contributor to global growth,” Glenn Maguire, chief Asia economist at Societe Generale SA told Bloomberg, “Monetary policy will be on hold for now, neither easing nor tightening.”