BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese economy expanded 6.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, official data showed Wednesday.

China's GDP reached 21.343 trillion yuan (about 3.18 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of 2019, and the growth pace was the same with that of Q4 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

The tertiary sector reported the strongest growth in added value by expanding 7 percent to reach 12.232 trillion yuan, which accounted for 57.3 percent of the total Q1 GDP, picking up by 0.6 percentage points compared with Q1 2018.

Consumption continued to be the mainstay in driving up demand, contributing 65.1 percent to Q1 economic growth, NBS data showed.

The industrial and agricultural sectors saw their added value grow 6.1 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.