Le Monde: China's economy shows strong resilience amid Middle East crisis
Le Monde focused on China's economy on Thursday. The publication emphasized that China's economy grew by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter. Against the backdrop of the Middle East crisis, this highlights the resilience of China's economy. Additionally, industrial production, new energy industries, and high-tech sectors performed strongly, with significant increases in output of 3D printing, lithium batteries, and robotics.
Le Monde wrote that in China, statistics carry even greater political significance than elsewhere. The economic data released by China on April 16, under the current international circumstances, sends an important signal: despite the ongoing escalation of the Middle East crisis triggered by U.S. President Trump’s stance on Iran and its global repercussions, China—the world’s second-largest economy—still demonstrates robust resilience. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China's GDP grew by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding the 4.5% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025 and reaching the upper limit of the annual growth target range set at 4.5% to 5%.
Le Monde noted that rising natural gas and oil prices in China indeed contributed to price increases. In March, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1% year-on-year, while the Industrial Producer Price Index increased by 0.5%.
Naturally, these price increases have driven nominal GDP growth, which partly explains why China’s overall economy continues to perform well.
Le Monde also pointed out that China has once again demonstrated formidable strength in emerging industries. Despite Western leaders’ concerns over China’s “bulldozer-style” development, it appears nothing can halt the strong momentum of China’s emerging industrial expansion. Official data show that 3D printing equipment production increased by 54% year-on-year, lithium-ion batteries by 40.8%, and industrial robots by 33.2%.
Continued growth in Chinese industrial production (up 5.7% year-on-year in March) remains a key driver of economic growth.
China’s imports, however, surged by 27.8% in March. Le Monde noted that this helps reinforce China’s public statement about its willingness to increase imports from countries around the world.
Le Monde concluded that the release of these positive data also serves to showcase China’s strength ahead of U.S. President Trump’s planned visit to Beijing on May 14–15. This allows the Chinese government to signal to Trump that the Middle East crisis will not undermine China’s economy. On the contrary, the crisis has further solidified Beijing’s strategic choice to heavily invest in new energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels—a clear contrast to the priorities of the Trump administration.
Source: rfi
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1862728681330713/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.