Five takeaways from China’s first-quarter GDP data

Retail surge and strong exports drive economic growth but recovery remains uneven.

Keyu Jin, a professor at the London School of Economics and author of The New China Playbook, said Xi’s new team of economic planners was trying to avoid a “western-style” system of capitalism dominating politics.

“Right now, it is still a recalibration, finding the right words, finding the right balance . . . It doesn’t want to go in either extreme,” she said. “We need to see the same transparency and predictability of the policies, even when the economy bounces back.”