Chinesepod - GDP grows 11.1% in first quarter

BIZCHINA / Center

GDP grows 11.1% in first quarter

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-19 16:11

China's gross domestic product, or GDP, totaled 5.03 trillion yuan (653
billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, according to
latest figures provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
Thursday.

China's GDP totaled 5.03 trillion yuan (US$653 billion) in the first
quarter of this year, up 11.1% in first quarter, according to latest
figures provided by the National Bureau of Statistics on April 19, 2007.
[Reuters]

The growth was 0.7 percentage points higher than the year-earlier level.

China's primary, secondary and tertiary sectors reported a respective
363.1 billion, 2.56 trillion and 2.11 trillion yuan in added value, with
the secondary sector, including manufacturing, mining and construction,
growing at the fastest year-on-year rate -- 13.2 percent -- in the
January-March period, the statistical bureau said.

The primary sector posted a growth rate of 4.4 percent and the tertiary
sector, including transport, posts and telecommunications, catering ,
tourism, banking and insurance, recorded an increase of 9.9 percent, the
bureau added.

The rapid economic growth was driven by investment, consumption and
import and export, said Li Xiaochao, spokesman with the statistical
bureau, citing consumption in particular, which grew in an impressive way
in the first quarter.

As for the question about whether the Chinese economy is overheated, Li
said it was a comprehensive problem, and to judge whether the economy is
overheated, the GDP-growth indicator alone was not enough.

But Li warned that now there existed a risk for Chinese economy to evolve
from fast growth to overheating.

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