The Chinese economy grew surprisingly strongly before escalation in the trade dispute with the USA. The gross domestic product rose 5.4 percent from January to March compared to the same period last year, as the statistics office announced in Beijing on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had only expected an increase of 5.1 percent. Also in the final quarter of 2024, the second largest economy after the United States grown by 5.4 percent. Measured on the previous quarter, this time she was 1.2 percent, the Chinese government is again aiming for around five percent for the current year. Whether this is achieved is questionable in view of the customs conflict with the United States. The US Großbank Goldman Sachs therefore reduced its forecast for the increase in gross domestic product this year from 4.5 to 4.0 percent. The two countries are also the most important trading partners in Germany. April, President Donald Trump, has risen customs to Chinese goods up to 145 percent, whereupon China reacted to US goods with counter-tariffs. High US tariffs for electronic products such as smartphones and computers have now been temporarily dropped again, and industrial production in the People’s Republic clearly increased. The companies increased their emissions around March by 7.7 percent compared to the same month, as the statistics office also announced. The forecasts of analysts were thus exceeded. In January/February it was only an increase of 5.9 percent. (Report by Kevin Yao and Yukun Zhang, written by Rene Wagner – If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
