China Q1 GDP Growth Holds Steady At 2-Year High As Country Calls For 'Actively Responding' To US Trade War

China started 2025 on a firmer footing even as it battles a maelstrom of an intensifying trade war with the U.S. 

The world's second-largest economy recorded 5.4% year-over-year GDP growth in the first quarter of 2025, data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The first-quarter year-over-year (YoY) growth matched the fourth-quarter level, the fastest since the second quarter of 2023.

According to Reuters, the YoY growth rate outperformed the 5.1% estimated by economists on average.

The NBS said, "With the sustained effects of the macro policies, the national economy got off to a good and steady start and maintained the recovery momentum with innovation playing an increasingly leading role."

However, it warned that the external environment was becoming increasingly complex and severe even as domestic growth remained lackluster.

China also called for actively responding to the uncertainties of the external environment to promote steady and sustainable growth.

The sequential growth slowed to 1.2% in the three months ending March 2025 from 1.6% in the previous three months.

Here's how the various GDP components fared on a YoY basis in the first quarter:

• Agricultural production: +4%
• Industrial output: +6.5% 
• Service sector:  +5.3%
• Retail sales: +4.6%
• Fixed asset investment: +4.2%

Retail sales increased at an accelerated pace of 5.9% in March.

The NBS noted that first-quarter consumer prices dipped 0.1% YoY, weighed down by lower food and services prices. The core consumer price inflation, however, climbed 0.3%. At the wholesale level, prices fell 2.3% in the first quarter.

The pricing statistics for March showed a 0.1% in consumer prices and a 2.5% plunge in producer prices. 

The first-quarter urban unemployment rate was 5.3%, with the March rate at 5.2%. This marked a tempering from the 5.4% rate in February, which marked a two-year high.

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