chinese economy

Opaque bidding laws, outright favoritism and other practices by China effectively bar foreign companies from winning public procurement contracts, a market equal to a fifth of the Chinese economy, a European business group said Wednesday.

China said its economy had grown 9.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, the strongest performance among the world’s biggest economies.

But consumer prices rose 5.4 percent.

Conflicting comments by informed observers illustrated how hard it is for economists to reach a consensus on whether the worst is over for China.

Stocks made slight gains after an upbeat assessment of the Chinese economy soothed nerves ahead of key earnings reports from leading U.S. companies.

As China spends huge sums at home in an attempt to offset weakening demand overseas, there is no conclusive sign of whether the stimulus program will succeed.