April 13, China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 11 quarters in the first 3 months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

The 8.1 percent growth in gross domestic product between January and March eased from the 8.9 percent recorded a quarter earlier and also missed market expectations of 8.3-8.5 percent.

On a quarterly basis, the country's economy grew 1.8 percent in the first 3 months, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said at a press conference.

According to preliminary statistics, the country's GDP reached 10.7995 trillion yuan (1.72 trillion U.S. dollars) in Q1, according to Sheng.

He said the economy has maintained "a moderately fast growth pace" in Q1 against the backdrop of a slow global environment and new conditions emerging domestically.

Analysts reckoned the main downside in Q1 GDP was related to exports and consumption. They expected more policy relaxation to fuel growth domestically and offset weakness in exports.

China lowered its full-year growth target to 7.5 percent in early March, after its economy grew 9.2 percent year-on-year in 2011.