India’s economy registered better than expected strong growth of 5.8% in the three months to 31 March 2009, boosted by hefty government spending. The last fiscal quarterly growth rate is the lowest in four years but beating analyst forecasts of 5.2% annual expansion. India, Asia’s third largest economy, expanded by 6.7% in the year to March 2009, lower than the 9% posted a year earlier.

The Chinese economy grew 9% in 2008. China’s GDP growth rate slowed to 6.1% to reach 6.5745 trillion yuan (US$939 billion) in the first quarter of this year, the weakest in 10 years, which was entirely generated by domestic demand. Investment and consumption drove up China’s GDP growth by 6.3% in the first quarter of this year by a rough estimate while external demand dragged GDP growth down 0.2%, according to the Chinese National Statistics Bureau (NBS).

Auto sales in China hit 2.68 million units in the first quarter – the highest in the world. Its saving rate rose to 49.9% in 2007 from 37.5% around 1998, compared with 4.2% in the United States in February this year.

China’s prosperous coastal provinces are bearing the brunt of the global financial fallout as reflected by their disappointing growth rates in 1Q of this year, with the GDP of former economic powerhouses Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong falling below the national average of 6.1%.

Main Chinese Provinces’ GDP, First quarter 2009

Source – ChinaDaily