China’s economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5% from a year earlier as it has largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war so far, according to data released today. The January-March data released by the government, covering a period during which the Iran war began, was better than what economists expected and was up from the 4.5% growth seen in the October-December quarter. 

 

The International Monetary Fund this week lowered its economic growth forecast for China to a 4.4% expansion for 2026. Chinese leaders last month set an economic growth target of 4.5% to 5% for this year, the slowest since 1991.