STRONG exports fueled growth in some of China's coastal areas in the first three months of this year while the inland regions weakened as they relied more on infrastructure investment, local government data have showed.

Zhejiang Province reported an economic increase of 8.3 percent in the first quarter after 8 percent in 2012. Heavily export-dependent Guangdong Province's economy grew 8.5 percent in the quarter, up from 8.2 percent last year.

But Sichuan Province's economic expansion slowed from 2012 full-year growth of 12.6 percent to 10.2 percent in the January-March period, while growth in Guizhou Province eased from 13.6 percent to 12.6 percent in the same period.

A heavy reliance on infrastructure investment may account for the performance divergence between inland regions and coastal areas, analysts suggested.

"Western areas had been leading the growth in the past few years after China decided to shift to an economy less reliant on exports," said Xue Jun, an economist at CITIC Securities Co. "But the gap in the growth rates seems to narrow this time as the government slows infrastructure investment."

China's trade grew strongly in the first quarter, and this partly fueled the growth in coastal areas. Exports rose a 18.4 percent in the quarter.