The Chinese economy grew 10.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, a tenth of a percentage point higher than earlier reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

A circular released by the NBS on Tuesday said that China's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first three months of 2006 reached 4.339 trillion yuan (US$542 billion), 7.7 billion yuan more than data released last month showed.

The preliminary check was made according to GDP accounting and releasing process of the NBS, said the circular.

Of the total, primary industries scored 324.2 billion yuan in value added, 4.2 billion yuan more than the earlier data with year-on-year growth dropping by 0.1 percentage point to 4.5 percent.

Secondary industries reaped 2.1614 trillion yuan, 0.1 billion yuan less previously reported with the growth rate unchanged at 12.5 percent; while tertiary industries reported 1.8534 trillion yuan in value added, 3.6 billion yuan more than earlier data revealed with the growth rate increasing by 0.2 percentage points to 8.9 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)