Pedestrians cross a road in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesChina’s first-quarter gross domestic product rose sharply while global peers face slowing growth as central banks hike rates to tame inflation.GDP grew by 4.5% in the first quarter, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. That marks the highest growth since the first quarter of last year — when China’s economy grew by 4.8% — and better than the 4% forecast in a Reuters poll. Quarter-on-quarter, the economy grew 2.2%.China’s growth has been under the spotlight as it reopens after ending most of its strict Covid restrictions that were in place for nearly three years. The economy expanded 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022.Retail sales jumped 10.6% in March as online sales of physical goods picked up. Industrial output rose 3.9%, slightly lower than Re …
