Amidst escalating US tariffs, China remains economically resilient due to its strategic reforms, innovation-driven growth, and diplomatic outreach. This allows third-world countries to align with the emerging anti-US alliance to counterbalance Western economic pressures.
China’s Strategic Resilience Amidst Rising U.S. Tariffs
The imposition of an unprecedented 245 percent trade tariff on Chinese imports unveils the United States’ fanatic approach and its detrimental implications for global markets. Western media reports regarding China’s official economic report also demonstrate concern over its economic resilience and strength. According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s GDP reached $4.33 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, increasing 5.4 percent annually. This reflects the qualitative industrialization, diversity, modernization, openness, and effectiveness of its new growth factors.
The Western media and its pseudo-intellectual reports and analysts dismiss the resilience of the Chinese economy by describing it as mere data manipulation. These erroneous analyses are politically motivated and are a part of the Western propaganda against Beijing. China’s primary sector has grown by 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, its secondary and tertiary sectors have grown by 5.9 percent and 5.3 percent respectively. The growth of all these sectors contributed to the current remarkable resilience of the Chinese economy.
Innovation, Industrial Growth, and Domestic Strength
Digitalization, green technologies, artificial intelligence, lithium batteries, and electric vehicles have driven a 6.5 percent annual increase in industrial value added by large enterprises. Equipment production has increased by 10.9 percent and high-tech manufacturing has surged by 9.7 percent in the country. Moreover, the IT sector has also shown a growth of 9.9 percent in China. Beijing’s consumer market is also recovering gradually, with a 4.6 percent improvement annually. This recovery reflects the strength of the double circulation of the Chinese economy.
The high-tech industry’s investment in fixed assets has also surged by 6.5 percent, striking a balance between industrialization and domestic investments. Moreover, the exports of the country have surged to 6.13 trillion Yuan, contributing to increasing the volume of total imports and exports by around 1.3 percent. Per capita income in the country has also increased by 5.6 percent, validating Beijing’s socio-economic framework’s resilience and shunning the Western propaganda of rising unemployment and poverty.
This delineates that China’s persistent consolidation of domestic economic foundation has mitigated the detrimental effect of a challenging and intricate external environment. Rising innovation and new development initiatives in China contribute to its economic strength. Moreover, increasing domestic consumer has also strengthened Beijing’s macroeconomy. Increasing performance of the Chinese economy contributes to its resistance against the newly imposed US tariffs and helps it sustain in the ongoing trade war with the United States. China’s consumption subsidies are effectively working, a factor demonstrated by the strong retail sales.
Chinese policymakers are expected to roll out additional measures aimed at boosting domestic demand, as they seek to offset the damaging effects of what they view as unjust U.S. tariffs. Facts and figures in the NBS reports suggest that China will soon mitigate all the adverse impacts created by the US tariffs. However, the rising US tariffs on Chinese products could exert pressure on the country’s economy in the short term. Nonetheless, the data shows that China holds the potential to mitigate this impact and its economy may not be affected by these tariffs in the long run. Therefore, it would be pertinent to believe that China’s economy possesses vast potential, multiple advantages, strong resilience, and a stable foundation.
Opportunity for the Global South
President Xi Jinping has recently visited different regional countries, including Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. He was warmly welcomed by these countries and achieved significant social assurances and pledges of long-term economic support. Moreover, this visit also demonstrates that China is currently looking for extended diplomatic relations and strengthened economic alliances. This provides an opportunity for all the developing nations to forge alliances with a reputable and reliable superpower. Third-world countries need to connect with China and show their political will to strengthen their diplomatic and economic relations with Beijing.
China is also a leading member of BRICS, a rising multilateral alliance against the US-led unipolar world order. Moreover, it is the second-largest economy in the world. Therefore, an alliance with China would enable them to counter the threat of unjust US tariffs and could lead them to economic and diplomatic stability. Historical events demonstrate that the United States has never been a loyal ally. Moreover, an alliance with a superpower led by a populist, whimsical, and self-obsessed leader like President Donald Trump can jeopardize third-world countries’ long-term economic and diplomatic interests.
Taut Bataut – is a researcher and writer that publishes on South Asian geopolitics
