There is sufficient evidence that the Chinese economy had “a good start” in the first quarter, Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday.

The good start was due to investment growth, steady prices, rising business profits, a warming property market and higher fiscal revenue, Zhao said.

Fixed-asset investment grew 10.2 percent year on year in the first two months and the growth rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the annual growth in 2015, he said.

The Consumer Price Index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent year on year in March, flat from February. On a month-on-month basis, the Producer Price Index, a measure of factory gate inflation, rose 0.5 percent in March from February, and the first monthly rise since January 2014, he added.

Profits of major industrial firms rose 4.8 percent year on year in the first two months, reversing last year’s downward trend, Zhao said.

Sales of homes jumped 28.2 percent by floor space and 43.6 percent by revenue in the first two months year on year, up 21.7 percentage points and 29.2 percentage points respectively from last year, he noted.

Fiscal revenue rose 6.3 percent year on year in the first two months, the highest since January last year, Zhao said.

(Source: Xinhua)