GDP grows faster than expected

The economy grew stronger than expected in the first quarter but it was accompanied by still surging consumer prices, prompting the government to tighten credit.

Growth in the world's fourth-largest economy was 10.6 percent in the first three months from a year earlier, beating market expectations of about 10 percent. But it was down from 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

Weakening export growth contributed to the mild slowdown, but rebounding retail sales and fixed-asset investment helped the economy expand faster than most analysts expected.