Photo: IC

China's GDP rose 6.4 percent in the first quarter (Q1), flat from the last quarter of 2018 and reaching a decade low, amid an ongoing trade war with the US and global economic uncertainty, official data showed Wednesday.

But the first-quarter growth rate, the slowest pace since 2009, still beat market expectations of 6.2-6.3 percent. Should the GDP land at 6.3 percent, it would be the slowest pace for the economy in about 27 years.

China's Q1 economy enjoyed stable performance with growing positive factors and stronger market expectations and confidence, sustaining the momentum of progress in overall stability, Mao Shengyong, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a press conference.

The economic downward pressure still persists due to a slowing world economy, increasing global uncertainty and domestic structural issues, Mao said, noting that "the task of reform and development is arduous."

Xu Hongcai, deputy chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, noted China's GDP growth rate will embark on a slowly declining trend given the deeper transformation of the economy. But the quality of growth will at the same time improve.

"The better-than-expected performance of the first quarter is a combination of short-term factors such a sudden surge in net exports and long-term factors including continued policy dividends," Xu told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Xu noted the fiscal and monetary policies aimed at driving consumption and investment that are rolled out earlier are affecting the economy. The effects will last longer than the performance in net exports, which is deemed by Xu as a short-term phenomenon.

The first-quarter growth rate was affected both by the slowdown of the world economy and the sluggish demand from the domestic market in terms of exports, investment and demand, which are the major forces driving the economy, said Liu Xuezhi, an economist at Bank of Communications.

The nearing of a trade deal between Beijing and Washington would also add to some business confidence and ease some worries about the slowdown in global economic development, experts said.

China's economy may further consolidate in the second quarter, and this year's GDP growth will maintain at around 6.3 percent, thanks to incentives including tax and fee cuts, Liu forecast.

The Chinese government responded to the slowdown in 2018 with efforts such as limiting the extent of financial regulatory tightening, injecting liquidity through cuts in the reserve requirement ratio, and reducing personal income taxes. The government will rely on fiscal measures to further boost domestic demand this year.

For example, China announced billions of dollars in value-added tax cuts in March for sectors like transportation and construction.

China set a GDP growth target range of 6 to 6.5 percent this year as the country aims to seek higher-quality growth amid mounting uncertainties in the global economic landscape, according to the annual Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang during the two sessions.

The Chinese government vowed to cut taxes and fees by 2 trillion yuan ($298.2 billion) in 2019 to boost consumption and shore up the manufacturing sector. In 2016, the same figure was just 500 billion yuan.

Consumption, the major driver of growth, contributed 65.1 percent to the GDP growth in the first three months.

Retail sales, industrial output and fixed-asset investments rose by 8.3 percent, 6.5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, on a yearly basis. High-tech manufacturing investments grew fast, up by 11.4 percent year-on-year.