China's growth slows in first quarter

China's economic recovery unexpectedly stumbled in the first three months of 2013 with slowing factory output and investment spending forcing analysts to start slashing full-year forecasts despite official insistence that the outlook was favourable.

The world's second-biggest economy grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, slower than 7.9 percent hit in Q4 2012, below the Reuters consensus forecast of 8.0 percent and confounding expectations of a surprise uptick that emerged after surging credit and export data were published last week.