China's economy grew by 5.4% in the first three months of the year. This growth was helped by strong exports before the US president increased taxes on Chinese goods.

Because of the trade war, experts think that the world's second largest economy will slow down a lot soon. This is because the U.S. is putting high taxes, up to 145%, on goods from China. China has also put taxes of 125% on goods from the U.S., but it says it still wants to keep its markets open for trade and investment.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting several other Asian countries this week. He wants to support free trade and show that China can bring "stability and certainty" when things are difficult.

While Xi visited Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, the U.S. announced that a senior official, Sean O'Neill, would travel to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Tokyo this week.

China has been showing its focus on trade with countries other than the US at different trade shows. At these events, China is showing off its big market and its strength as a major producer.

Because of exports, China's economy grew by 5% in 2024, and the official goal for this year is also around 5%.

According to Sheng Laiyun from the National Bureau of Statistics, the tariffs will cause problems for China's economy for a short time, but they will not stop it from growing in the future. He also said that China now sends less than 15% of its total exports to the United States, which is less than the 19% it sent five years ago.

"China's economy is strong and can handle difficulties, with much chance for future growth. We are sure we can manage problems from other countries and reach our development goals," Sheng stated.

Between January and March, the economy grew by 1.2% compared to the previous three months. This was slower growth than the 1.6% seen in the final three months of 2024.

Chinese exports went up by more than 12% compared to the year before in March and almost 6% in U.S. dollars in the first three months. This happened because companies hurried to avoid Trump's taxes. This has helped manufacturing stay strong in the last few months.

Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management said that much of this happened early on. This was because people acted quickly before the US raised tariffs, and importers in the US bought a lot of goods to be ready.

In the last three months, industrial production went up by 6.5% compared to last year. This was mainly because making equipment increased by almost 11%.

The biggest growth was in new technologies, such as making electric and hybrid cars. This grew by 45.4% compared to the previous year. Making 3D printers also increased by almost 45%, and making industrial robots went up by 26%.

Although the Chinese economy grew quite fast compared to other countries, it has had trouble getting back on track since the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because problems in the housing market have led to more people losing their jobs, which makes families careful about spending money.

In the first three months, the prices consumers paid went down a little. This suggests that in many industries, people were not buying as much as companies were making. Also, people invested less in property, with it falling by almost 10% compared to the year before. This happened even though the government tried to get banks to lend more money for buying houses.

The problem with tariffs could be a big difficulty for Beijing as it tries to encourage companies to invest, hire more staff, and get people to spend more.

Economists in both private and public companies are being careful about what will happen, because Trump keeps changing his mind about the details of his trade war.

Because of what has happened in the last two weeks, it is very hard to say how the taxes the U.S. and China put on each other might change, according to Tao Wang and other UBS economists in a report.

The International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank still expect the economy to grow by about 4.6% this year.

When Trump became president, he first increased the tax on goods from China by 10%. Later, he increased it to 20%. Now, China has to pay a 145% tax on many of the things it sends to the United States.

UBS believes that if the taxes on goods stay about the same, China will export two-thirds less to the US in the coming months. They also think China's total exports around the world could go down by 10% in value. UBS has reduced its guess for economic growth this year from 4% to 3.4%. They expect growth to be slower, at 3%, in 2026.

Over the past seven months, China has worked harder to encourage people to spend more money and businesses to invest more. They have offered more financial help for people trading in cars and appliances, and provided more money for housing and other industries that need it.