Foreign visitors try out the AI-powered glasses by iFLYTEK at the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, in southern China’s Guangdong province, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Andy Wong)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-04-16T02:25:21Z<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (AP) \u2014 China\u2019s<\/a><\/span> economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5% from a year earlier as it largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war<\/a><\/span> so far, according to data released Thursday.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China\u2019s economy grew 1.3% in the first three months from the final quarter of last year, the fastest pace in a year.<\/p>\n Economists expect China, the world\u2019s second largest economy, to be able to weather short-term impacts from the Iran war, now in its seventh week. The war is pushing energy prices higher, worsening inflation<\/a><\/span> and impacting global economic growth. But longer term, areas including global demand for Chinese exports could take a hit.<\/p>\n The International Monetary Fund this week trimmed its economic growth estimates for China to a 4.4% expansion for 2026 as it lowered<\/a><\/span> its global growth forecasts over Iran war shocks. Chinese leaders last month set an economic growth target of 4.5% to 5% for this year, the slowest since 1991.<\/p>\n \u201cChina can likely weather short term disruptions, but a protracted war and higher for longer energy prices would likely start to bite into growth by the second half of the year,\u201d said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at Dutch bank ING.<\/p>\n