YEREVAN, April 15. /ARKA/. China's economic growth slowed unexpectedly in the first quarter, raising concerns that a recovery that started in the second half of last year is already losing steam.
Gross domestic product grew 7.7% on a year-to-year basis in the first quarter, down from 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012 and lower than many economists forecast, according to Chinese official data released on Monday. The median GDP forecast of 14 analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal was 8%.

"The new government has concentrated more on raising the quality of economic growth," said Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics. He added that "7.7% is not a low growth rate given the global and domestic situation, and it's good for companies' restructuring and industrial upgrading."

The economy showed further signs of slowing at the end of the quarter. Industrial output growth decelerated to 8.9% year-on-year in March, down from 9.9% in February. Retail sales also disappointed, with growth at 12.6% year-on-year in March, suggesting cautious households are being slow to support the government's goal of raising domestic consumption. –0--