China's economy likely grew 5.1% in Q1 on export surge: AFP poll
China is expected to post first-quarter growth of around five percent on Wednesday, buoyed by exporters rushing to stave off higher US tariffs but still weighed by sluggish domestic consumption, analysts say.
Beijing and Washington are locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff assault that has particularly targeted Chinese imports.
Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent toll on US imports.
Official data Wednesday will offer a first glimpse into how those trade war fears are affecting the Asian giant's fragile economic recovery, which was already feeling the pressure of persistently low consumption and a property market debt crisis.
Analysts polled by AFP forecast the world's number two economy to have grown 5.1 percent from January to March -- down from 5.4 the previous quarter.
