China’s first quarter economic growth slightly tops forecast

China’s first quarter economic growth slightly tops forecast

Beijing: China's economic growth rose modestly to 4. 8% for the first quarter of 2022 as the country suffers an economic slowdown amid coronavirus outbreaks and a major real-estate crisis. The previous quarter's growth was 4%. Analysts had predicted 4. 4% growth for the first quarter of 2022. This quarter's growth has fallen well below the official target of 5. 5% for 2022. "The national economic recovery was sustained and the operation of the economy was generally stable," China's government said in a statement. The rise followed a slump triggered by tighter government controls on China's real estate industry. The controls hit the country's construction industry, which supports millions of jobs. Investors have been nervous about possible defaults by developers as a result of the new controls. One of China's largest developers, Evergrande Group, has struggled to avoid default since last year. The company owns $310 billion (€287) in liabilities to banks and bondholders. Smaller developers have collapsed or defaulted on debts after the Chinese government put limits on the amount of money they could borrow. China's economy has also struggled to rebound amid lockdowns in major commercial center Shanghai and elsewhere due to coronavirus outbreaks. China has implemented a