Chinese Q1 economy beats forecasts, grows 5.4%

China on Wednesday said its economy grew a forecast-beating 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025 as exporters rushed to get goods out of factory gates ahead of swingeing new US tariffs.

Official data 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 that "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".