China's GDP growth tops forecasts in first quarter; analysts sceptical

China’s gross domestic product growth rose 4.8 per cent in the first quarter from a year prior, the government announced Monday, picking up from a rate of 4 per cent in the October-to-December period, and beating a consensus 4.2 per cent rate among economists surveyed by Bloomberg. 

The overall acceleration in growth came despite a protracted property slump and a series of lockdowns in March that disrupted business operations and depressed consumption.

The better-than-expected economic data prompted questions from analysts who pointed to inconsistencies with alternative statistics that paint a grimmer picture.

“There’s a quite big gap between the