National Business Climate Survey results show that the business climate index (BCI) was 125.6 in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 1.2 points quarter-on-quarter.
Slower than expected growth in the first quarter will not prevent China from attaining its annual GDP target, a government spokesman said on Monday.
Policymakers may resort to slight monetary loosening in the second quarter to stimulate growth.
Pork prices fall, forcing down inflation rate
China's consumer price index grew 2.1 percent year-on-year in March.
China's producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.9 percent year on year in March.
Apart from China's official PMI reading, HSBC also released its own March PMI figure showing a rise in factory activity to 51.7 last month from 50.4 in February.
China's Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector rose to 50.9 percent in March from 50.1 percent in February.
In the first quarter of 2013, despite gloomy global economic conditions, China remains the top targeted nation in merger and acquisition transactions. China has a transaction value of $22.811 billion, representing 45 percent of the total transaction value in emerging market M&A transactions
Ttotal retail sales of consumer goods reached $525.435 billion, up by 12.3 percent year on year. The real growth rate was 10.4 percent.
China's fixed asset investment rose 21.2 percent year-on-year in the first two months, down 0.3 percentage point from the same period last year.
China's industrial value-added output rose 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first two months, down 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year.
China's producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.6 percent year-on-year in February.
China's CPI grew 3.2 percent year-on-year in February, the highest level in ten months.
China's exports increased 21.8 percent year-on-year in February, while imports fell 15.2 percent, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.
China has the world's highest proportion of women in senior management positions, according to a new study that shows more than 51 percent of top posts are held by females - a huge jump from the survey's previous figure of 25 percent, and well above the global average of 21 percent.
China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday released a report on the country's economic and social development in 2012.
Xie Hongguang, deputy chief of the NBS, said the report highlights steady and relatively fast economic growth, the continuous optimization of the country's economic structure and progress in improving people's livelihood.
Special Coverage: 2012 in Review
China's fiscal revenue in the first two months increased 7.2 percent year on year to 2.24 trillion yuan, slower than the growth rate of 13.1 percent in the same period a year ago.
A growth target of 7.5 percent and a greater focus on consumption and economic reforms were some of the goals set out by Premier Wen Jiabao in a keynote address on Tuesday.
China will strive to increase its total foreign trade volume by around 8 percent amid slow recovery in the world economy and rising trade protectionism.
China plans to raise its defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($114.3 billion) in 2013, according to a budget report to be reviewed by the national legislature.