BEIJING - China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, 0.5 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

The country's GDP reached 33.4 trillion yuan ($4.87 trillion) during this period, according to the NBS data.

In the first quarter, "the growth of production and supply accelerated, market demand continued to improve, employment was generally stable, market prices picked up moderately, and high-quality development advanced with new and positive momentum," the bureau said in a statement. "The national economy got off to a good start with the development showing greater resilience and vitality."

China's GDP grew 5 percent year-on-year last year. The country has targeted 2026 growth at 4.5 to 5 percent and will strive for better in practice.

Industrial output up 6.1%

The NBS data also showed China's value-added industrial output expanded 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The pace was 1.1 percentage points faster than the fourth quarter of last year, according to the bureau.

On a monthly basis, industrial output grew 0.28 percent in March.

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The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.

A breakdown of the data showed that the mining sector's value-added output increased by 6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 6.4 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply sectors rose by 4.3 percent.

Retail sales

The bureau's data also showed China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 2.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The pace is 0.7 percentage points faster than the growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the NBS. Total retail sales of consumer goods reached 12.77 trillion yuan in the January-March period.

In March alone, the retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.7 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

Fixed-asset investment

Meanwhile, China's fixed-asset investment went up 1.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, reversing the 3.8-percent decline recorded for the whole of last year, according to the official data.

The investment totaled 10.27 trillion yuan during the period, the NBS said.

Investment in infrastructure construction rose 8.9 percent from a year ago during the period, and manufacturing investment increased 4.1 percent, according to the NBS.

Excluding the property sector, the country's fixed-asset investment rose 4.8 percent in the first three months. Investment in property development fell 11.2 percent year-on-year during the period.

Property investment

The NBS also said China's investment in property development decreased in the first quarter, down 11.2 percent year-on-year.

The floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold was 195.25 million square meters, down by 10.4 percent year-on-year. The total sales of newly-built commercial buildings were 1.7262 trillion yuan, down by 16.7 percent.

Housing price in first-tier cities 

In March, the home prices rose in China's four first-tier cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - from the previous month, the official data showed.

Urban unemployment

On China's labor market, the surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.3 percent in the first quarter, maintaining the same level as that of the same period last year, according to the data.

In March alone, the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.4 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month, according to the NBS.

China has set a target of a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent in 2026 and aims to create over 12 million new urban jobs within the year.