China's exports maintained double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2026, thanks to a pickup in overseas demand and the country's ability to provide high-quality, reliable goods, a senior Chinese customs official said on Tuesday.
Wang Jun, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, briefed the media on China's import and export in the first quarter of 2026 and explained the drivers of the export growth in the period at a press conference.
"External demand is picking up. In the first quarter, China's exports to ASEAN increased by 17.5 percent, while exports to the European Union and the United Kingdom grew by 18 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively. Besides, the rapid global development of artificial intelligence and green and low-carbon industries has significantly boosted demand for related smart and green products. China continues to provide a stable, reliable supply of production for industries worldwide by leveraging its comprehensive industrial support system. In the first quarter, exports of goods from the equipment manufacturing sector reached 4.25 trillion yuan (about 622.22 billion U.S. dollars), up 19.2 percent year on year, accounting for over 60 percent of the total export value," said the official.
"Among exports, products from the computer and communications manufacturing industry and transportation equipment, such as railway and shipbuilding products, both saw export growth of over 20 percent. Meanwhile, the introduction of innovative new products into the market is also stimulating fresh demand. Products like 3D printers and digital cameras have gained popularity with overseas consumers, with their exports surging by 119 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively, in the first quarter," Wang continued.
Overseas demand, reliable goods' supply contribute to double-digit growth in China's exports in Q1
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2026 to 3.1 percent in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday, while keeping its projection for 2027 at 3.2 percent.
This marks a deceleration from the estimated 3.4 percent growth achieved in 2025. Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the bottom-up forecasts for global growth would have been 3.4 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027.
The forecast incorporates the impact of the war and assumes that it will be limited in duration, intensity and scope, with disruptions fading by mid-2026.
Under the reference forecast, global headline inflation is expected to increase to 4.4 percent in 2026 and decline to 3.7 percent in 2027.
If the conflict and the ensuing spike in oil prices last longer, global economic growth in 2026 will fall to 2.5 percent, while global inflation will climb to 5.4 percent, according to the report.
In extreme cases, global economic growth in 2026 could drop to two percent, the report warned.
To be specific, the U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2026 and 2.1 percent in 2027, although higher trade barriers introduced since April 2025 are expected to continue to weigh on activity.
In the euro area, growth is projected to decline from 1.4 percent in 2025 to 1.1 percent in 2026 before edging up to 1.2 percent in 2027. The forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are each 0.2 percentage point lower than those compared in the January 2026 WEO Update.
The 2026 growth forecast for emerging market and developing economies is revised down by 0.3 percentage point, to 3.9 percent, while the outlook for advanced economies remains broadly unchanged. With risks still tilted to the downside since the January 2026 WEO Update, the IMF suggested a comprehensive policy package combining domestic measures with coordinated international actions to strengthen resilience and foster adaptability.
It also stated in the report that "trade restrictions play a limited role in correcting imbalances but can worsen output," and urged countries to cooperate and take coordinated actions to restore stability to international economic relations.
IMF lowers global growth forecast for 2026 to 3.1 pct
