BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China's economy welcomed a robust start in the first quarter of this year, a report by the Bank of China (BOC) said Monday, forecasting a year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth of about 4.8 percent.

In terms of external environment, the global demand is warming up and international trade sentiment is on the rise, which contributes to the rebound in China's export growth, the report said.

Internally, the intrinsic growth momentum of the economy has been strengthened, as consumption has performed better than anticipated, manufacturing investment has accelerated, production has been steadily recovering, and the trend of industrial upgrading and transformation is evident.

The report forecast that China's GDP growth for the second quarter will be around 5.1 percent.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, the potential of service consumption is expected to be further unleashed.

On the other hand, fiscal policy is set to significantly increase its support, utilizing a comprehensive range of policy tools to help maintain a high growth rate in infrastructure investment, said the report.