Update: China’s First-Quarter GDP Growth Beats Expectations With 4.8% Rise

China’s economy expanded 4.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed Monday, although a notable slump in consumption eclipsed the better-than-expected growth, as the country continues to battle its worst outbreak of Covid-19 since early 2020.

The January-to-March figure was higher than the 4% year-on-year growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2021, and also above the median estimate of 4.4% growth in a recent Caixin survey of economists.