Asia stocks advance as China’s economy grows more than expected

Most Asian stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, following the release of better-than-expected economic numbers from China. Mainland Chinese shares were higher on the day. The Shanghai compositerose 0.29 percent to approximately 3,263.12 and the Shenzhen component added around 0.55 percent to about 10,344.43. The Shenzhen composite rose 0.721 percent to close at around 1,772.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was largely flat, as of its final hour of trading. China said Wednesday its economy grew 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2019, beating analysts’ expectations. A Reuters poll predicted the country’s gross domestic product would grow 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first three months of the year. China grew by 6.4 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, and 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018. “China’s high frequency economic indicators confirm that growth is bottoming out,” economists at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group wrote in a note following the data release.