A surge in industrial activity has pushed up China’s annual economic growth rate to 6.9 per cent in the first quarter, according to government statistics released on Monday,

周一发布的中国政府统计数据显示，工业活动的急剧攀升，将今年第一季度中国经济同比增长率推升至6.9%。

Growth for the first three months of 2017 came in above Chinese premier¹ Li Keqiang’s prediction that full year growth would be “around 6.5 per cent”, after recording² 6.7 per cent growth in 2016.

2017年头三个月的增长速度超过了中国总理李克强关于全年增速将在“6.5%左右”的预期。2016年，中国经济增长了6.7%。

Industrial production for March rose 7.6 per cent compared with the same month last year, surpassing expectations of 6.3 per cent growth, while retail³ sales for the month jumped 10.9 per cent.

3月份，中国规模以上工业增加值同比增长7.6%，超过了6.3%的增幅预期，社会消费品零售总额同比跃升10.9%。

Fixed⁴ asset investment in the first quarter expanded 9.2 per cent, beating forecasts of 8.8 per cent.

一季度，全国固定资产投资同比增长9.2%，超过了8.8%的预期。

China has kept growth relatively⁵ robust⁶ thanks in part to rising levels of corporate⁷ debt, with credit continuing to grow at more than twice the rate of the underlying⁸ economy. The country’s overall indebtedness is creeping towards 300 per cent, most of it concentrated in the corporate sector⁹.

中国保持了相对强劲的增长，部分要归因于企业债的攀升，中国的信贷继续以基础经济增速两倍多的速度增长。中国的总体负债率正悄然接近300%，其中多数债务集中于企业部门。

The relative predictability of China’s official growth figures masks big swings in specific regions or industries.

中国官方增长数据的相对可预测性，掩盖了特定地区或产业的巨大波动。

The four-year slump¹⁰ in the oil, coal and steel industries afflicted¹¹ the northern and western parts of the country. A recovery in resources prices since the first quarter of 2016 has buoyed¹² the economy and helped producer prices return to positive territory in September after four years of deflation.

石油、煤炭和钢铁产业长达四年的低迷，令中国北部和西部陷入困境。2016年第一季度以来的资源价格回升提振了经济，帮助工业生产者出厂价格指数(PPI)在滞留萎缩区间达四年之久后、于去年9月重返扩张区间。