Against the backdrop of rising global geopolitical risks and violent fluctuations in the energy market, the best expectation for the world economy is nothing less than growth resilient enough to withstand downward pressure and stability to be found amid turmoil – and China's economic performance in the first quarter of the 15th Five-Year Plan period has delivered exactly such an expectation.

According to an online poll released by CGTN, 89.3% of respondents hold that the value of China's certainty in this turbulent era continues to rise.

In the first quarter of this year, China's economic growth rate reached 5%, hitting the upper bound of its annual growth target range. In the same period, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3.1%. Meanwhile, 89.8% of respondents believe that this contrast further highlights the strong resilience of the Chinese economy; 79.8% of respondents stated that the steady growth of China, an ultra-large economy, has become a stabilizing force for the world economy amid pervasive uncertainties.

In terms of specific economic data, China's retail sales of services rose by 5.5% year on year in the first quarter, while the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.4% year on year. According to the survey, 86.9% of respondents hold that with a series of positive changes such as the optimization of visa-free policies, the upgrading of service consumption and the diversification of consumption scenarios, the potential of China's consumer market is being rapidly unlocked; 84.3% of respondents pointed out that China's economy is gradually shifting from being driven by investment and exports to multi-pillar support led by consumption, innovation and services.

Meanwhile, the shares of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing in the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size in China rose by 1.4 and 1.2 percentage points year on year respectively in the first quarter, with the contribution rate of high-tech manufacturing to the growth of such industrial enterprises reaching 32.6%. In response, 85% of respondents believe that scientific and technological innovation has become a key driver of China's high-quality economic development, and the foundation of China's real economy is growing increasingly solid, further stabilizing market expectations for the Chinese economy.

Notably, China's total import and export volume exceeded 11 trillion yuan (about $1.6 trillion) in the first quarter, up 15% year on year. Since the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), a number of exhibitions represented by the China International Consumer Goods Fair and the Canton Fair have captured the attention of global enterprises, and the "China Factory" is gradually evolving into a "Global Market."

Respondents stated frankly that the robust growth of China's economy would not be possible without its unswerving commitment to expanding high-level opening up. 81.2% of respondents hold that against the backdrop of intensifying global trade protectionism and unilateral bullying, the Chinese market has demonstrated strong competitiveness and irreplaceability; 85.1% of respondents support their home countries to conduct comprehensive economic cooperation with China.

The survey was published on CGTN's English, French, Arabic, and Russian platforms, with a total of 5,242 participants expressing their views within 24 hours.