Economic Watch: Chinese economy shows strong resilience despite pressure

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — China’s economy withstood pressure and maintained stable growth, continuing on a path of positive development amid internal challenges and increasing external shocks, an official of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference that the fundamentally positive outlook for China’s economy has not changed, and there are several favorable conditions for sustained economic recovery.

China’s retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, expanded 5.1 percent year on year in April to 3.72 trillion yuan (about 517.27 billion U.S. dollars), NBS data showed.

From January to April, the retail sales of consumer goods rose 4.7 percent year on year, accelerating from the 4.6-percent growth in the first three months, according to the NBS.

In the first four months, the index of services production grew by 5.9 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter, according to the NBS data.

In April, the total value of goods imports and exports reached 3.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6 percent year on year, the data showed. From January to April, the import and export volume of general trade grew by 0.6 percent year on year, accounting for 64 percent of the total trade value.

In the first four months, private enterprises saw a year-on-year increase of 6.8 percent in imports and exports, representing 56.9 percent of the overall trade volume, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

China’s fixed-asset investment went up 4 percent year on year in the first four months of 2025 to 14.7 trillion yuan, the latest NBS data showed. Excluding the property sector, the country’s fixed-asset investment grew 8 percent year on year during this period.

During the period, infrastructure investment rose 5.8 percent year on year, while manufacturing investment increased 8.8 percent, the data indicated.

Driven by China’s consumer goods trade-in program, sales of home appliances and audio equipment surged by 38.8 percent last month, and sales of cultural and office goods jumped by 33.5 percent, according to the NBS.

“In April, the combined retail sales of consumer goods related to trade-ins, including household appliances and audio-visual equipment, cultural and office supplies, furniture, communication equipment, and building and decoration materials, contributed to a 1.4 percentage point increase in the total retail sales of consumer goods,” Fu said.

In April, the added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 10 percent year on year, surpassing the overall industrial growth rate by 3.9 percentage points.

China’s shift toward intelligent and green development is gaining momentum, said Fu. In April, the added value of the intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing sector surged by 74.2 percent, while the production of new energy vehicles rose by 38.9 percent.

“Breakthroughs in advanced technology fields such as large AI models and humanoid robots will further promote industrial upgrading and development,” Fu said.

Bolstered by multiple favorable factors, China’s economy is expected to maintain stable performance and steady growth momentum, said the spokesperson.

He added that the significant reduction of bilateral tariffs between China and the United States is beneficial for trade growth between the two countries and global economic recovery.

However, the current international environment remains complex and challenging, with a rise in unilateralism and protectionism posing serious challenges to the international economic and trade order and hindering global economic growth, Fu noted.

“But the trend of international cooperation for win-win outcomes will not change, and China’s commitment to expanding its opening up will remain steadfast,” he said.

The country’s efforts to diversify its foreign trade are progressing steadily, with policies aimed at promoting foreign trade development delivering continuous results, Fu said, adding that these measures are expected to continue supporting the stable growth of China’s foreign trade.