This was above the 4% growth predicted by Wind, a Chinese data provider, and up from the 2.9% growth seen in the fourth quarter of last year.
After its growth slowed to the second worst in nearly five decades at 3% last year, China set a modest growth target for 2023 at around 5%.
All other major economic indicators, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, showed recovery may still be uneven. Retail sales up by 10.6% last month from a year ago, rising from 3.5% growth in combined figures for January and February.
Industrial production, a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors, rose by 3.9%YoY in March.
But fixed-asset investment – a conventional tool for Beijing to drive up growth – rose by just 5.1%YoY in the first three months of 2023, down from a rise of 5.5% in the first two months of the year.
Beijing has also pledged to shore up trade as a pillar for the overall recovery this year and exports surprised the market with strong growth in March despite signs of weak external demand.
The economic recovery may still be uneven as low price indices triggered warnings about the risks of deflation and inadequate demand, while pressure to create enough jobs continued to persist.
The urban surveyed jobless rate, meanwhile, stood at 5.3% in March, down from 5.6% in February.
The jobless rate for the 16-24 age group also remained at an elevated level of 19.6% in March, up from 18.1% in February.
