China's Economy Surges 11.9% in First Quarter

China’s economy continued its muscular recovery in the first quarter of 2010, growing 11.9% over the same quarter last year, the Chinese government reported on Thursday, April 15.

The growth rate was the fastest in three years, beating the 10.7% expansion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009. Inflation was “stable,” according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, which reported that the nation’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.4% in March from the previous year, and that the producer price index (PPI) was up 5.2%.

Li Xiaochao, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said that the first-quarter surge was driven largely by government stimulus measures. Li said that China was concerned about the growth rate and inflation in the latter part of the year because “the base rate will be higher.”