By LI Linxu

China's economy beat expectations in the first two months of 2022, with high-tech industries leading the way.

"Overall, the momentum of January-February recovery remained relatively well," said National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) spokesman Fu Linghui, describing the growth "better than expected."

"Indeed, every data point has been rebounding, mainly because policy effects kicked in early this year. " said Qu Qing, chief economist at Jianghai Securities.

Among the key indicators, industrial output rose 7.5 percent in January-February from a year earlier, the fastest pace since June 2021 and up from a 4.3 percent increase seen in December, according to NBS.

The high-tech manufacturing industries posted a stellar performance, jumping 14.4 percent year-on-year.

An industrial robot smart line, Changzhou city, Jiangsu province. (PHOTO: VCG)

Specifically, the production of new-energy automobiles logged a marked increase of 150.5 percent, while that of industrial robots and solar cells grew by 29.6 percent and 26.4 percent year-on-year respectively.

Meanwhile, the investment in the high-tech industry grew by 34.4 percent year-on-year, significantly faster than the overall fixed asset investment growth rate.

By category, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 42.7 percent and 16.0 percent respectively.

"In January-February, the economy enjoyed good recovery momentum, though we must be aware that the external environment is still complex and severe, and China's economic development faces many risks and challenges," said Fu, adding that the country will deepen the reform and opening up, and promote high-quality development so as to maintain the economic operation within the appropriate range.