China records 5% GDP growth in Q1 2026

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, 0.5 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

The country's GDP reached 33.4 trillion yuan ($4.87 trillion) during this period, the NBS data showed.

In the first quarter, "the growth of production and supply accelerated, market demand continued to improve, employment was generally stable, market prices picked up moderately, and high-quality development advanced with new and positive momentum," the NBS said in a statement. "The national economy got off to a good start with the development showing greater resilience and vitality."

China's GDP grew 5 percent year-on-year last year. The country has targeted 2026 growth at 4.5 to 5 percent and will strive for better in practice. 

China's value-added industrial output expanded 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, official data showed.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the fourth quarter of last year. On a monthly basis, industrial output grew 0.28 percent in March.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.

A breakdown of the data showed that the mining sector's value-added output increased by 6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 6.4 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply sectors rose by 4.3 percent. 

China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 2.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026.

The pace is 0.7 percentage points faster than the growth in the fourth quarter of 2025. Total retail sales of consumer goods reached 12.77 trillion yuan in the January-March period.

In March alone, the retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.7 percent year-on-year, the data showed.