SINGAPORE—China’s economy accelerated in the first quarter of the year, even as lockdowns closed factories and kept tens of millions confined to their homes in March, according to official data that economists say overstates the strength of the world’s second-largest economy.
China’s gross domestic product expanded by an annual 4.8% in the first quarter, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Monday, a faster pace than the 4% expansion recorded in the final three months of 2021 and the 4.6% expansion predicted by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
