A drone photo taken on January 7, 2026 shows the upgraded expressway charging station under solar photovoltaic panels at the Changxing Service Area on the G50 Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway in Changxing County, East China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

A strong start with a steady and promising beginning.

On Thursday, the first-quarter report of China's economy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) was released, showing that GDP grew by 5 percent year-on-year at constant prices. This growth rate reached the high end of this year's full-year target range of 4.5 percent to 5 percent, and ranks among the top major economies in the world. Despite a complex and volatile external environment, major economic indicators exceeded expectations.

To understand "exceeding expectation," several key indicators help explain this.

Investment turned from decline to growth. Fixed-asset investment grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reversing previous declines. Investment is an important driving force for economic growth. In response to rare negative growth in investment since the third quarter of 2025, the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of last year emphasized the need to halt the decline in investment, promote recovery, and effectively stimulate private investment vitality.

Since the beginning of this year, various regions and departments have optimized the implementation of "two major" projects - those aligned with major national strategies and strengthening security capacity in key areas - and continued to advance major projects, and solidly promoted the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing.

As a result, infrastructure investment rose 8.9 percent in the first quarter and manufacturing investment increased 4.1 percent. With the synergistic effects of policies taking effect, the key role of investment has been better realized.

Service consumption growth accelerated. In the first quarter, service retail sales grew 5.5 percent year-on-year. Service consumption has great growth potential and broad development space. Since the beginning of this year, driven by a series of policies to boost consumption, new business formats such as travel services and cultural-tourism services have shown strong growth momentum, and the holiday economy has gradually heated up.

Going forward, in accordance with the spirit of national conference on the service sector, and by further implementing the action plan to expand and improve the service industry, service consumption is expected to continue to create new economic growth points.

Corporate profit improved significantly. In the first two months of this year, the total profits of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide grew 15.2 percent year-on-year. Profits of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing grew rapidly, reflecting the continuous recovery of industrial enterprises' profitability. With increased production, profit growth, and improved efficiency, a wide range of business entities will inject vigorous vitality into the economy.

Foreign trade grew substantially. In the first quarter, the total import and export of goods exceeded 11 trillion yuan ($1.61 trillion), the first time for the same period in history, a year-on-year growth of 15 percent, and the highest quarterly growth rate in nearly five years.

Amid a rapidly changing and turbulent global environment, opportunities and challenges coexist. In a global market full of uncertainty, Chinese products with solid polity have demonstrated exceptional competitiveness. The combined effects of a recovery in external demand, a complete domestic industrial support system, and the release of corporate innovation momentum supported a 11.9 percent increase in goods exports in the first quarter.

Market expectations improved. In March, the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 50.4, returning to the expansionary territory above the 50 expansion-contraction line for the first time in two months. Meanwhile, in March, both the manufacturing PMI and the services business activity level improved, with both returning to expansionary territory. This sends a positive signal that the overall economic sentiment continues to improve and confirms that market confidence is strengthening.

Indeed, "exceeding expectation" is not surprising. No matter how the external environment changes, China remains steadfast in managing its own affairs well, focuses on high-quality development as the primary task, adheres to the coordination between effective quality improvement and reasonable quantitative growth, accelerates the development of new quality productive forces, and boosts innovative and high-quality development. Taking steady steps forward and accumulating small victories into a major triumph, a 5 percent growth rate is reasonable and in line with the laws of economic development.

Having "exceeded expectation," the future looks even brighter. Achieving a stable start to the year amid a turbulent external environment, the Chinese economy truly deserves its reputation as an "oasis of certainty" for global development. Currently, external uncertainties and instabilities remain numerous, and the foundation for a stable and positive economic outlook still needs to be consolidated. Having grown stronger through trials and tribulations, the Chinese economy will undoubtedly continue to forge ahead, creating even more results that "exceed expectations."

The article was compiled from an article originally published by the People's Daily on April 16, 2026.

Source: Global Times