Estimates made by economists at Bloomberg forecast a stronger-than-expected first quarter for the Chinese economy, ahead of an official data release on Tuesday morning.
The survey finds quarterly growth sticking to 6.8% compared to the 6.5% target, equal to that seen in the final quarter of 2017 and just under the 6.9% taken for the whole year.
Also in the official data will be retail sales for March, which Bloomberg estimates to have risen 9.7% for the month, and industrial production figures, which experts predict will have cooled down last month.
If the government report lands in line with these forecasts, it will show the resilience of China’s economy in the face of economic threats such as trade tensions with the U.S. and a domestic debt crisis.
“We really shouldn’t be surprised that China’s economy is doing well,” said James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney. “Consumer confidence has been bouncing off multi-year highs, while purchasing managers indexes have been consistently in expansion territory. Like the U.S., it’s becoming more driven by domestic demand every year.”
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