THE country’s economy grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018, slightly faster than expected, buoyed by strong consumer demand and surprisingly robust property investment despite continued measures to tame rising home prices.

The government is looking to keep the economic balancing act intact even as it faces rising trade tensions with its largest trading partner, the United States, that could impact billions of dollars in cross border trade.

“Consumption is really strong, there is strong wage growth in urban areas. We underestimated the power of consumption in China,” said Iris Pang, China economist at ING in Hong Kong

Resilient consumption, which accounted for 77.8 percent of economic growth in the first quarter of the year, has helped support the world’s second-largest economy even as risks grow for its exporters.

March retail sales rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier, the strongest pace in four months, with consumers buying more of almost everything from cosmetics and clothing to furniture and home appliances. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 9.9 percent from 9.7 percent in the first two months of the year.

The first-quarter economic performance has set a good foundation for the full year, although international uncertainties are increasing and domestic development remains uneven, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Analysts polled previously had expected gross domestic product (GDP) to expand 6.7 percent in the January-March period, slowing only marginally from 6.8 percent growth in the previous two quarters.

Growth remained comfortably above the government’s target of around 6.5 percent for the full year, which could give policymakers more confidence to step up efforts to reduce risks in the financial system and clean up the environment.

Overall January-March fixed-asset investment growth slowed to 7.5 percent, just below expectations and cooling from 7.9 percent in the January-February period.

First-quarter infrastructure investment rose 13 percent year on year, but eased slightly from the first two months of the year.

Industrial output was perhaps the biggest downside surprise, expanding 6 percent in March year on year, the slowest pace in seven months.(SD-Agencies)