China says economy grew 5.4% in first quarter, beating forecasts

• China’s economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter, surpassing the forecast of 5.1%.
• US-China trade tensions have led to high tariffs, impacting China’s recovery amid low consumption and debt issues.
• Beijing warned of a “complex and severe” global environment, urging more proactive macro policies.

China on Wednesday said its economy grew a forecast-beating 5.4% in the first quarter as exporters rushed to get goods out of factory gates ahead of swingeing new US tariffs.

Beijing and Washington are locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff assault that has particularly targeted Chinese imports.

Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145%, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% toll on US imports. Official data on Wednesday offered a first glimpse into how those trade war fears are affecting the Asian giant’s fragile recovery, which was already feeling the pressure of persistently low consumption and a property market debt crisis.

Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said “according to preliminary estimates, the Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter… [was] up by 5.4% year-on-year at constant prices”. That was above the 5.1% predicted by analysts polled by AFP ahead of the data release.

Industrial output also soared 6.5% in the first quarter of the year, up from 5.7% in the final three months of 2024. And retail sales, a key gauge of consumer demand, climbed 4.6% year-on-year, the NBS said.

But Beijing warned the global economic environment was becoming more “complex and severe” and that more was needed to boost growth and consumption.“

The foundation for sustained economic recovery and growth is yet to be consolidated,” the NBS said, adding there was a need for “more proactive and effective macro policies”.

– Agence France-Presse