2018.04.1700:50:00UTC+00China Reported First-Quarter 2018 GDP Growth of 6.8%

China's economy expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018, the country's statistics bureau reported. This marks the third-consecutive quarter of 6.8 percent growth for the world's second-largest economy.

The latest figures may confirm that's occurring, with March industrial output growth slowing to 6 percent from the previous year, compared to the 7.2 percent for the January through February period.

In other data, January to March fixed asset investment growth slowed to 7.5 percent from a year ago, down from 7.9 percent in the first two months of the year. Economists had expected fixed asset investment to come in at 7.6 percent over the first three months of 2018.

Retail sales surpassed expectations in March, increasing 10.1 percent from a year ago, beating the consensus forecast of 9.9 percent.

The economy of China expanded 6.9 percent in 2017, surpassing the official target of around 6.5 percent, partly due to a synchronized global recovery.

Concerns about China's economy - including rising debt levels - remain. The government has been fighting to contain ballooning debt and a housing bubble without hurting growth.

The growth figures come amid concerns about China's outlook for exports which has been clouded by rising tensions with the United States, its largest trading partner.