Buoyed by rapid growth in domestic consumption as well as exports, China's sizzling economy grew by 11.1 per cent in the first quarter this year though it raised concerns of overheating.

China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) totalled 5.03 trillion yuan ($653 billion) in the first quarter of the year, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The growth was 0.7 percentage points higher than the year-earlier level, or 0.4 percentage points higher than the level for whole of last year.

The growth during Jan-March of 2007 showed the fastest growth rate since the second quarter of last year, when the Chinese economy expanded 11.5 per cent, stoking concerns that a whole series of measures to cool things down have failed.

"If the fast growth continues for a certain period, there is a risk of shifting from fast growth to overheating," spokesman for the NBS, Li Xiaochao told reporters in Beijing.

"We must carefully carry out all policies of the central government and continue to strengthen and improve macro-economic control measures," he said.

The searing economic growth and investment increase come despite a series of policy tightening measures by the government to rein in double-digit growth. The Chinese economy grew 10.7 per cent last year.

According to NBS, China's consumer price index, or CPI, a major inflation index, grew by 2.7 per cent in the first quarter, 1.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year.