BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy got off to a good start in 2019 as more indicators showed positive signs of stabilization for the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

The world's largest developing economy beat market expectations to advance 6.4 percent year on year in Q1, remaining flat with the GDP expansion in the previous quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

UPBEAT DATA

Wednesday's fresh data added to good previous economic indicators, pointing to expansionary economic activity and improving economic structure.

The graph shows Chinese economy of the first quarter of the year 2019 based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (Xinhua/Meng Lijing)

The tertiary sector reported the strongest growth in added value by expanding 7 percent to reach 12.232 trillion yuan, which accounted for 57.3 percent of the total Q1 GDP, picking up by 0.6 percentage points compared with Q1 2018.

Q1 industrial output expanded 6.5 percent year on year, picking up from the 5.3-percent growth in the January-February period, while growth of retail sales of consumer goods also quickened from the first two months by growing 8.3 percent year on year, consolidating consumption's prominent role in driving growth, which contributed 65.1 percent of the GDP in the first quarter.

Consumers select food at a supermarket in Shanghai, east China, April 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

Fixed-assets investment, property investment and trade in Q1 all grew faster than the January-February period, with signs of optimizing structure such as robust investment in high-tech manufacturing and services.

The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas edged down by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, while per capita disposable income climbed 6.8 percent year on year in real terms.