China's economy got off to a steady start in the first quarter of 2022 despite challenges from an increasingly complex international environment and resurgences of COVID-19 cases at home.

The country's gross domestic product grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first three months, picking up pace from a 4-percent increase in the fourth quarter last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on April 18.

The economy posted a stable performance with continued recovery as China balanced the epidemic control and economic and social development, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference.