China's economy grew higher than expected in the first quarter by 4.5 percent year-on-year, supported by policymakers' move to boost growth after lifting strict COVID-19 restrictions in December.
Reuters had forecast GDP growth to accelerate to 4 percent year-on-year from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
On a quarterly basis, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed GDP growth of 2.2 percent in the January-March period.
After falling far behind last year's targets, the government set a modest economic growth target for this year at around 5 percent.
Source (Al Arabiya.net Website, Edited)
