China’s first-quarter economic growth outstripped expectations, underpinned by solid consumption and industrial output, but analysts fear momentum could shift sharply lower as U.S. tariffs pose the biggest risk to the Asian powerhouse in decades. President Donald Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to eye-watering levels, prompting Beijing to slap retaliatory duties on U.S. imports that have raised the stakes for the world’s two biggest economies and rattled financial markets. Data on Wednesday showed China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.4% in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, unchanged from the fourth quarter, but beat analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 5.1%. Growth momentum is expected to cool sharply in the next few quarters, however, as Washington’s tariff shock hits the crucial export engine, heaping pressure on Chinese leaders to roll out more support measures to keep the world’s second-largest economy on an even keel. Government stimulus boosted consumption and supported investment, said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Econo
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