The figure, which marked the fifth consecutive quarter of decline, revealed the slowest growth pace since the third quarter of 2009 and failed to match market expectations of 8.3 to 8.5 percent.

　　Despite a lackluster GDP figure, other economic data released Friday showed signs of stabilized growth, and the slowdown may prompt more government fine-tuning polices to cushion the economy, analysts said.

　　On a quarterly basis, the country's economy grew 1.8 percent in the first three months of this year, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said at a press briefing on March's economic figures.

　　According to preliminary statistics, the country's GDP reached 10.7995 trillion yuan (1.72 trillion U.S. dollars) during the period.

　　SIGNS OF STABILIZED GROWTH

　　Views were divided on whether the GDP figure has bottomed out the economy's growth, but analysts said the growth rate remains healthy and the economy is heading toward stabilized growth.

　　Sheng said the first quarter growth rate was not low compared with other economies and it showed gains against the backdrop of faltering global economic recovery and new conditions emerging domestically, including operations difficulties among small and medium-sized enterprises.

　　Challenged by a sluggish external market, China lowered its full-year growth target for 2012 to 7.5 percent in early March, after its economy grew 9.2 percent year-on-year last year.

　　"Speaking of absolute GDP increase, the first quarter growth is still remarkable," said Yin Jianfeng, a researcher at the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

　　Although the GDP figure has further slowed from last year, other figures for March indicate that the economy's growth momentum started picking up, said Liu Ligang, director of the economic research department of ANZ Greater China.

　　Sheng shared this view, citing positive month-on-month growth in the country's major economic indicators.

　　In March, industrial value-added output grew 11.9 percent year-on-year, higher than the 11.4 percent recorded in the first two months. Retail sales grew 15.2 percent, an increase of 14.7 percent from the January to February period, Sheng said.

　　Fixed asset investment rose 20.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, dropping 0.6 percentage point from the January to February period. But its real growth after deducting price factors still exceeded that registered during the January to February period, he noted.

　　"We believe the economy will continue to maintain moderately steady growth in the future, because the country's economic fundamentals have not changed," the spokesman said.

　　Sheng explained that the country is still undergoing a rapid process of industrialization, urbanization, marketization and internationalization, which will unleash huge investment and consumption potential.