ThisphototakenonFeb.25,2023showsunmannedvehiclestransportingcontainersatanautomaticcontainerterminalatQinzhouPortinsouthChina"sGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion.(Xinhua/ZhangAilin)

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BEIJING,April17(Xinhua)--MultiplesignsindicatethatChina"seconomyhasbeenrecoveringwithstrongerimpetusandimprovedmarketconfidencesincethebeginningofthisyear,andanalystsexpectmoregrowthpotentialtobeunleashedinthecomingquarters.

Bothforeigntradeandcreditgrowthbeatmarketforecastsinthefirstquarter,andmanufacturingactivityandconsumptioncontinuedtopickup,officialdatahasrevealed.

AstheimpactofCOVID-19subsidedsignificantly,economicstabilizationpoliciesweredeployedinadvance,China"seconomycontinuedtorecoverinthefirstquarter,andmarketconfidenceandexpectationsimprovedsignificantly,accordingtotheBankofChinaResearchInstitute.

DatafromtheGeneralAdministrationofCustomslastweekshowedthatforeigntradehasbeenimprovingoverthepastthreemonths.Afterdropping7percentyearonyearinJanuaryduetotheSpringFestivalholiday,itrecoveredtoanexpansionof8percentinFebruarybeforesurging15.5percentinMarch.

InMarchthisyear,theexportgrowthrateoftheworld"smajorforeigntradepowerscontinuedtodecline.Incontrast,China"sexportsstillachievedcontrariangrowthdespiteahighbasein2022,andthegrowthratefarexceededmarketexpectations,saidWangJing,aresearcherattheBankofChinaResearchInstitute.

Wangsaidthatthegrowthwasmainlythankstothereleaseofpreviousorderbacklogs,thereturnofexportordersforlabor-intensiveproducts,andthestrongcompetitivenessofnewproducts.

Asforthefinancialsector,thegrowthofyuan-denominatedloansamountedto10.6trillionyuanduringthefirstquarterofthisyear,up2.27trillionyuanfromayearago,whilenewlyaddedsocialfinancingcameinat14.53trillionyuanduringthefirstquarter,anincreaseof2.47trillionyuanfromthesameperiodlastyear.

"Theyuanloansgrowthhitarecordhighinthefirstquarterofthisyearassustainedeconomicimprovementledtoareboundincorporateloandemand,"saidWenBin,thechiefeconomistofChinaMinshengBank.

ZhouMaohua,ananalystattheChinaEverbrightBank,attributedthestrongfinancialperformancetotherecoveryofbusinessandhouseholdconfidence,thecontinuedexpansionofbusinessinvestment,andtherecoveryofhouseholdconsumptionandhousingdemand.

China"smanufacturingactivitymaintaineditsexpansionforthreeconsecutivemonthsbyMarch,withthepurchasingmanagers"index(PMI)forChina"smanufacturingsectorhitting51.9,andthePMIforthenon-manufacturingsectorreached58.2.

TheaveragemanufacturingPMIintheJanuary-Marchperiodreachedavigorous51.5,whichwasclosetothelevelseeninthefourthquarterof2020,accordingtoZhangYu,chiefmacroanalystatHuaChuangSecurities.

Marketconfidencealsoimprovedremarkably.Thebusinessoutlookindexcameinat55.5,withoptimismsharedbyallsurveyedindustries,accordingtotheNationalBureauofStatistics.

Lookingbackatthefirsttwomonths,dataonretailsales,investmentgrowth,foreigninvestmentandemploymenthaveallmaintainedstability.Inparticular,retailsalesincreased3.5percentyearonyear,reversingthedeclinesseeninthepreviousthreemonths.

Apartfromtheencouragingdata,vitalitywasalsoseeninChina"seconomicactivities.Areal-timebigdataplatformdevelopedbyBaiduMapsshowedthattheaveragepassengerflowindexofkeynationalpassengertransporthubs,aswellasthepopulationflowandcongestionindexofkeytouristattractionsandpopularbusinessdistricts,aregraduallyheatingup.

Lastweek,thethirdChinaInternationalConsumerProductsExpoheldonsouthernChina"sislandprovinceofHainanshowcasedtherecoverymomentumoftheconsumermarket.Thenumberofparticipatingbrandsincreasedto3,300from2,600inthefirstsessionin2021,whilevisitorsincreasedtosome320,000from240,000inthefirstsession.

The133rdChinaImportandExportFair,alsodubbedtheCantonFair,whichwasheldofflineforthefirsttimesincetheCOVIDoutbreakwitharecordscale,kickedoffonSaturday,welcomingpurchasersfromover220countriesandregions.

Asforexpectationsofthisyear"seconomicrecovery,XuChun,directoroftheChangjiangSecuritiesresearchinstitute,believesthat2023willbeayearofmoderaterecovery,andthatthe5percentGDPgrowthtargetforthewholeyearcanbeachievedsmoothly.

Withthereopeningofvariouslocationssincethebeginningoftheyear,pent-updemandhasbeenfullyreleased,Xusaid.

ZhangLiqun,aresearcherattheDevelopmentResearchCenteroftheStateCouncil,saidthatconsumptionandinvestmentininfrastructurehavebeenstrengthened,governmentinvestmenthasenhancedinvestmentacrosssociety,andenterpriseconfidencehasgraduallyrecovered.

"Butstill,greateffortsareneededtoconsolidatetheeconomicrecovery,especiallyindealingwiththetriplepressuresofdemandcontractions,supplyshocksandweakeningexpectations.Effortsarealsoneededtofocusonexpandingdomesticdemand,ensuringsupplyandstabilizingprices,"Zhangsaid.