China's economy grew at its slowest pace in seven years in the first quarter, but indicators from the consumer, investment and factory sectors point to nascent signs that the slowdown in the world's second-largest economy may be bottoming out.
Official data on Friday showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.7 percent in the first quarter from the previous year, in line with analyst forecasts and easing slightly from 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter.
While it marks the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009, when growth tumbled to 6.2 percent, other activity data reinforced previous signs that the economy may be finding traction with better-than-expected growth seen in retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investment.