CCTV News: The State Council Information Office held a press conference on April 16. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in the first quarter, the GDP increased by 5.4% year-on-year, the economy started steadily and started well, and high-quality development was steadily promoted.

Economic growth has been rising steadily. According to preliminary calculations, in the first quarter, the GDP was 31875.8 billion yuan, an increase of 5.4% year-on-year based on constant prices.

By industry, the added value of the primary industry was 1171.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%; the added value of the secondary industry was 111.903 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%; the added value of the tertiary industry was 1951.42 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, introduced that in the first quarter, GDP grew by 5.4% year-on-year, which was higher than the national growth rate of 5% in 2024 and also higher than the 5.3% growth rate in the first quarter of 2024. This growth rate ranks among the top among major economies, continuing the trend of steady improvement and steady recovery since 2024.

In the first quarter, production accelerated its recovery. The added value of industrial added value and service industry above the designated size increased by 6.5% and 5.3% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.7 and 0.3 percentage points respectively over the previous year.

In the first quarter, new consumption momentum continued to be released. The total retail sales of consumer goods was 124671 billion yuan, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year. In March, the year-on-year growth was 5.9%, significantly accelerating from January to February.

Since 2025, with the improvement of in-house funds and the advancement of projects, infrastructure investment increased by 5.8% in the first quarter, an acceleration of 1.4 percentage points over the whole year of the previous year. Especially driven by the large-scale equipment renewal policy, in the first quarter, investment in equipment and tools purchases increased by 19% year-on-year, and the contribution rate to the growth of all investment was 64.6%, effectively driving investment.

The cultivation of new quality productivity is accelerated. A number of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology have accelerated the launch and application, driving the development of high-tech industries and further optimized the industrial structure.

In the first quarter, the added value of the equipment manufacturing industry accounted for 33.7% of the industry above the scale, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over the same period in 2024. The added value of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size in the country increased by 9.7% year-on-year. The trend of industry transformation to high-end, intelligent and green is obvious.

In addition, the production and operation of private enterprises continue to improve. In the first quarter, among large-scale industrial enterprises, the added value of private enterprises increased by 7.3% year-on-year, a growth rate rebounded compared with the whole year of 2024, and the development vitality of private enterprises continued to increase.