China railway freight volume decline narrows in Q1 as economy warms

BEIJING - Railway freight volume continued to decline in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, but at a slightly slower pace, official data showed Wednesday.

Railways transported 791 million tons of cargo in the first three months, down 9 percent year on year, compared with a 9.4-percent decrease seen in the same period last year, according to figures from the National Development and Reform Commission.

The railway freight volume in March fell 6.4 percent to 274 million tons, an improvement over a 10.1-percent drop logged in March last year.

Dragged by a housing slowdown as well as softening domestic and global demand, China's economy continued to slow in Q1 -- 6.7 percent year on year -- following the 25-year low of 6.9 percent posted for 2015.

Thanks to a string of government measures since the beginning of this year -- including cuts to interest rates and taxes, efforts to reduce overcapacity and reforms to improve efficiency -- improvements have been seen; with exports and industrial profits returning to growth, manufacturing activity picking up and power-use accelerating.