Multiple indicators show continued recovery of China’s economy

China’s economy has reported strengthened momentum since the beginning of 2025, despite rising global uncertainty and volatility, with steady growth in foreign trade, robust social financing expansion, and manufacturing activity picking up pace.

Here is a set of the latest data that highlights a continued recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s total goods imports and exports in yuan terms expanded 1.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year. In particular, exports during the period rose 6.9 percent.

During the first three months, the newly added social financing amounted to 15.18 trillion yuan (2.11 trillion U.S. dollars), representing a 2.37 trillion yuan increase from a year ago. New yuan loans stood at 9.78 trillion yuan, and the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 7 percent.

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector climbed for a second straight month to 50.5 in March, the highest figure since March 2024, indicating continued improvement in industrial sentiment. The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 50.8 in March, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month.

China’s foreign exchange reserves have remained higher than 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars for 16 straight months, reflecting resilient economic fundamentals and a strong capacity to handle global turbulence.

The market of new energy vehicles saw robust expansion in the first quarter, with production surging 50.4 percent year on year to 3.18 million units and sales up 47.1 percent to 3.08 million units. Meanwhile, total auto output and sales also registered double-digit growth in the period.

China’s express delivery volume has surpassed 50 billion parcels as of April 11, reaching the milestone 18 days earlier than in 2024. The figure translates to roughly 35 packages per person so far this year, with around 500 million parcels crisscrossing the country each day.

China’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) saw improved business performances, as an industrial index, based on a survey of 3,000 SMEs across eight major industries, stood at 89.5 in the first quarter, 0.5 points higher than in the previous quarter. 

Xinhua