China's economy expanded 7.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed Wednesday, slumping to a new post global financial crisis low even as authorities take steps to bolster growth in the world's second-largest economy.

The figure announced by the National Bureau of Statistics was lower than expansion of 7.3 percent in the final three months of last year, but exceeded the median forecast of 6.9 percent in an AFP survey of 15 economists.