BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's economy delivered a strong start in the first quarter, demonstrating steady performance and resilience, economists and observers have said.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.4 percent year on year to 31.8758 trillion yuan (about 4.42 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

Describing China's improved GDP as "excellent news," Professor John Bryson from the University of Birmingham in Britain, told Xinhua that China has been shifting away from a focus on exports combined with infrastructure investment to a more balanced approach that includes an increase in consumer demand within China.

"This process of rebalancing means that some of the drivers of national economic growth are being localized," Bryson said, adding that the outcome of this rebalancing exercise is seen with the release of the latest GDP figures.

A rebalanced Chinese economy with more local consumer demand represents one approach to ensuring national economic sustainability, Bryson said.

China's GDP grew 5 percent year on year in 2024 and the country has targeted its full-year economic growth at around 5 percent for this year. The strong performance of the Chinese economy in the first quarter of 2025 shows its resilience, positioning the country to better weather global uncertainties.

Despite the ongoing global economic headwinds and U.S. tariff pressures, China's focus on domestic demand expansion and consumption promotion through policies like trade-in programs appears to be bolstering its economic resilience and stability, said Moteb Alshammary, chief of staff of Hisense Electronics in Saudi Arabia.

"The Chinese economy possesses significant internal strength, capable of navigating external uncertainties," Alshammary added.

A series of measures taken by the Chinese government have enabled China's economy to maintain rapid and stable growth, said Irfan Karsli, head of the Istanbul-based tourism agency Ligarba Travel. "In the field of consumption, the Chinese government has implemented many preferential policies, which have brought real benefits to the people and also driven the production and sales of various industries in China."

Seeing the Chinese economy as a "stabilizer" of global economic growth, experts believe that China's sustained economic growth has a profound impact on the world economy.

James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist, said that in the context of international trade friction and the U.S. tariffs, China's economic growth is of great significance in boosting world confidence and promoting the world economy.

The Chinese economy is important to the rest of the world, said Dawie Roodt, a senior economist at South African wealth management company Efficient Group, adding that China will help maintain global economic growth by continuing to expand domestic demand and boost consumption.

In the views of Abu Bakr al-Deeb, advisor to the Cairo-based Arab Center for Research and Studies, China's sustained economic expansion and its persistent efforts to integrate itself into the global economy have generated opportunities for nations worldwide.

"The size of China's domestic market presents a matchless consumer base as this vast market translates into substantial potential for companies across many industries," the expert noted.

By maintaining policy stability and action predictability, China has emerged as a pivotal force in overcoming global turbulence, said Marcos Pires, a professor at the Department of Political and Economic Sciences at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, adding that amid a landscape of global uncertainties, China serves as a safe harbor and predictable anchor for nations and businesses alike.■