China's annual GDP growth slipped to a record low in the first quarter, but the quarter-on-quarter increase might point to a recovery, a domestic news portal reported today.
"China's annual GDP growth in the first quarter was higher than 6 per cent, but lower than the 6.8 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2008," according to the Shanghai Securities News website.
Anything less than 6.8 per cent would be the lowest since China's quarterly growth records began in 1992. The article did not identify its sources.
In a separate article, the Shanghai Securities News website said that the State Council, or cabinet, would decide in a meeting today whether to launch a new stimulus plan.
Speculation has been rife in recent days that China might announce a new spending package focused on boosting consumption to follow up on the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion), two-year stimulus plan that it unveiled last November.
The website cited Southwest Securities analyst Dong Xian'an as saying that annualised quarter-on-quarter growth was 6 per cent in the first quarter, compared with 1 per cent in the last three months of 2008.
"Last year's fourth quarter was the bottom for our economy and currently economic growth is evidently recovering," he was paraphrased as saying.
The National Bureau of Statistics will announce GDP growth and other economic data for the first quarter tomorrow.
Reuters
