BY ADAM
ROSE AND XIAOYI SHAO
BEIJING Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:29am EDT
(Reuters) -
China 's economy grew at its
slowest pace in 18 months at the start of 2014, but did a touch better than
expected and showed some improvement in March, suggesting Beijing will not rush to follow up recent
steps to support activity.
Authorities
have ruled out major stimulus to fight short-term dips in growth, signaling the
slowdown was an expected consequence of their reform drive, even as some
analysts think the economy will lose further momentum.