On Monday or 18 of April 2022, the national statistic bureau in China released the increased GDP data for about 4.8% for the yearly period. That was in the first quarter of 2022.

This number is drastically increasing from a 4.0% growth in the quarter before. Besides that, it also exceed the economists expectation for a 4.4% increase. So, the release was quite surprising. 

The China’s GDP data report yesterday morning was beyond most people expectations. The reason is that economy is now having various kinds of obstacles from the national or international scope. 

The situation inside and outside the nation is now more complicated. Besides that, China is also facing the significant obstacles and challenges as said by NBS several days ago. 

The Government has Made the Economic Growth Target 

The China’s government has made the target of economic growth. The amount is for about 5.5% for this year or in 2022. The yearly growth this time is a way lower than last year. 

The cause is various kinds of problems such as the Unstable stock chains, the newest COVID-19 case in Shanghai, up to the conflict between Russia – Ukraine which trigger the sharp increase in energy prices. 

The retail sales slumped after having a significant raise before separately. Mean while, the retail sales were slumped by 3.5 percent yearly in March. This number is worse than the 1.6% forecast. 

Besides that, it is also really contrast than the previous month which noted an increase of 6.7%. That is why; the market participants and analysts are thinking about the right strategy to face this. 

The Cause of this Declining Retail Sales

The decline in retail sales in March is allegedly related to a correction from the previous surge. This was considering that people tend to hold back their spending after a lot of shopping. 

Meanwhile, the factory output rose by 5 percent on an annual basis in March. It was lower than a 7.5% raise happened before, but that number is still higher than the 4.5% increase. 

Elsewhere, the fixed asset investment data also increased by 9.3% as a year to date type. Amidst the employment market obstacle, the unemployment Rate in China was increasing quite significantly. 

It was from 0.3% to become 5.8% in March. Before, the China’s government has increased their unemployment level this year from 5.1% to 5.5%. That becomes a serious concern to solve. 

Meanwhile, the Gold Price Is Rocketing 

Gold prices jumped to a one-month high in Monday's trading session. That situation raising concerns over the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the economy and a spike in inflation. 

The investors prefer to buy safe haven assets under current conditions. The spot of gold prices jumped more than 1% in early morning trading, then halved to $1,993 an ounce after that. 

Based on an opinion shared by the analyst, this bullion's upward situation is still happened. It is as long as the market continues to get news that leads to negative risks to the outlook. 

The news includes the Russian-Ukrainian war, the controversy over the Fed's aggressive tight monetary policy, and china's economic slowdown due to COVID-19. These are always highlighted. 

The Fed’s Decision May Lead a Recession 

In addition, the direction of the Fed's policy is also an observation of the market. A number of banks on Wall Street showed their concerns about the Fed's aggressive monetary tightening measures. 

This thing can increase the risk of economic recession. On the other hand, COVID-19 is still spreading in China even though it has been announced as endemic by who. A

The Asian tigers were forced to reimpose restrictions on major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. As a result, their economy reportedly fell back in the month because of that.