A saleswoman arranges vegetables at a supermarket in Hejian City, north China's Hebei Province, April 12, 2017. China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 0.9 percent year on year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on April 12. (Xinhua/Zhu Xudong)
The central bank has vowed to pursue a "prudent and neutral" monetary policy in 2017, promising better adjustments to ensure stable liquidity.
The upbeat data and the recent U.S. interest rate hike has prompted the PBOC to tilt toward tightening in the near term. The bank skipped open market operations of reverse repos Tuesday, for the fifth consecutive business day, siphoning liquidity from the market.
China lowered its 2017 growth target to around 6.5 percent, the lowest target in a quarter of a century, as the government leaves leeway for economic rebalancing.
Goldman Sachs forecast in its report that the Chinese economy was likely to remain solid in the first quarter, growing 6.8 percent from a year earlier.
