We are counting down to Friday's data dump -- that's when China will release its first-quarter GDP figure and other numbers. The first two months of 2016 were quiet but March has seen every indicator beat expectations.

It's the moment of truth again... the pending release of China's quarterly gross domestic product data.

A raft of monthly indicators, including the GDP numbers, will be published on Friday, with analysts watching for additional evidence of tentative economic improvement.

A GDP growth rate of 6.7% in the first quarter would be down from 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015. That would mark China's slowest growth pace since the financial crisis, highlighting the continued downward pressure on the world's second largest economy. 

China's economy grew 6.9% last year. That was its slowest rate in more than two decades.

One headache is China's ever-rising debt to GDP leverage.

There are hopeful signs for China's economy, despite the headwinds from sluggish global demand, industrial overcapacity in many key sectors and weakening productivity among state-owned firms. China's real estate sector is recovering and property investment rebounded in January and February.

In addition, the stock market turbulence that started the year and its impact on GDP will have significantly retreated.

Room for additional interest rate intervention appears limited, but cuts in the required reserve ratio are expected to continue.

Analysts I've spoken to say that despite signs of green shoots and an uptick in consumer price inflation, China's central bank is likely to keep monetary policy accommodative to reach the money supply and growth targets.

The International Monetary Fund this week raised China's 2016 growth forecast slightly to 6.5 percent and 6.2 percent in 2017, partly due to previously announced policy stimulus.

But the global lender said it still expects China's growth to continue to be weak as it transitions to a consumer-driven economy.