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China released its first batch of key economic data for 2023 on Wednesday, showing a stable improvement across the board as the economy has entered a fast lane of recovery following the downgrade of the Covid-19 management in January, building a solid foundation for achieving the full-year GDP growth target of around 5 percent.

“In the first two months, the Chinese economy steadily recovered with rising production demand, stable employment and consumer prices and improved market expectations,” Fu Linghui, a spokesperson with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a press conference on Wednesday.

According to data released by the NBS, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 2,4 percent year-on-year in January and February, or 1,1 percentage points faster than that of December 2022, reflecting the accelerated recovery of industrial production and improved business expectations.

Meanwhile, the country’s fixed-asset investment grew steadily by 5,5 percent year-on-year to reach 5,36 trillion yuan (US$776 billion) in the first two months. Specifically, investment in real estate development declined by 5,7 percent year-on-year, which has narrowed compared with a 10 percent year-on-year fall in 2022, according to the NBS. Another highlight is the improvement and rebound in domestic consumption. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 7,71 trillion yuan (US$1,12 trillion), up by 3,5 percent year-on-year, reversing a downward trend in December, NBS data showed.

“The national retail sales excluding car consumption rose 5 percent year-on-year, indicating that the country’s consumption has gained notable momentum along with rebound in consumer expectations and the steady resumption of off-line services,” Zhou Maohua, an economist, told the Global Times on Wednesday. –  Bloomberg