China's economy is expected to grow at a steady pace in the first quarter on government spending and robust exports.
Economists expect gross domestic product to climb by 6.8 percent in the first quarter, as seen in the final three months of 2016.
The National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to issue quarterly national accounts data on April 17.
The government had lowered its growth target for 2017 to about 6.5 percent.
China achieved 6.7 percent growth in 2016, in line with the 6.5-7 percent expansion the government had targeted. However, this was the weakest growth in 26 years.
The economy has continued its slowdown as the administration tries to shift the reliance from exports to consumption.
In a report released this week, the World Bank forecast China's growth to continue easing steadily, to 6.5 percent in 2017 and 6.3 percent in 2018-19.
The moderation in growth reflects the impact of the government's measures to reduce excess capacity and credit expansion, the lender said.
The NBS is also slated to release industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment figures for March.
Industrial output is forecast to climb at a faster pace of 6.4 percent year-on-year in March after rising 6.3 percent in January to February period. Similarly, growth in retail sales is expected to improve to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent January to February.
Recent Purchasing Managers' survey showed a slowdown in the private sector growth to a 6-month low in March as output in both manufacturing and services weakened from February.
by RTT Staff Writer
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