Provincial growth tops expectations

Figures show faster Q1 development, signaling a healthy start for industries

Most provinces in China achieved faster-than-expected growth in the first quarter of 2019, reflecting the resilience of the country's sprawling industrial economy, the country's top industry regulator said on Tuesday.

Huang Libin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference that 22 provinces' industrial growth rates from January to March were higher than their targets for the whole year and driven partly by central and local governments' favorable policies to accelerate supply-side reform.