China's economy grows by 5.3% in first quarter, well above forecast

China's economy grew faster than expected during the first three months of this year, boosting Beijing's hopes of a manufacturing-led recovery. But growth in retail sales was disappointing as the property market remains on the floor, suggesting that it may take some time to rebuild consumer confidence. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year and by 1.6 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. This was comfortably above the annualised figure of 4.6 per cent predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. Sheng Laiyun,…