China's GDP growth accelerates to 5.3%, defying expectations

SHANGHAI -- China's gross domestic product growth accelerated to 5.3% on the year in the January-March quarter, suggesting policy support measures are propelling the world's second-largest economy through persistent headwinds.

The first-quarter result, announced by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, was slightly above the 5.2% in the last quarter of 2023. It comfortably beat the average forecast of 4.5% by 31 economists in a poll carried out by Nikkei last month.