Preparation for stress test is paying off

That the Chinese economy expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, up 1.2 percentage points compared with the previous quarter and hitting 31.88 trillion yuan ($4.42 trillion), is testimony to the world's second-largest economy's solid fundamentals and strong resilience.

Although some Western observers call the quarterly growth "unexpectedly strong" given the headwinds the world's second-largest economy faces, that is not the case.

This is in part because export growth has been particularly "buoyant" since the waning months of 2024, when overseas companies increased their orders in anticipation of the tariff hikes to be imposed by the United States.