China reports 5% GDP growth in 2025 despite trade pressure and housing slump

China’s economy grew by 5% in 2025, matching the official target of “around” that pace, even as officials face ongoing US trade pressure, a prolonged housing market collapse and weak consumer demand. Data showed the country recorded its largest-ever trade surplus (US$1.2tn) after finding alternative markets and with American tariffs proving less punitive than feared.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s chief economist, Luke Yeaman, said navigating a fraught geopolitical landscape remained a “major wildcard”, and he said China’s economy should continue to grow through 2026, while warning that “the structural challenges plaguing China’s domestic economy are not going away”.

Those structural problems include a four-year housing market meltdown, with home prices down more than 20% since 2021 and a looming debt crisis in the property sector, and weak price pressures at home: consumer prices rose just 0.8% in 2025. Yeaman said Japan’s experience in the 1990s and early 2000s set a gloomy precedent: “Even without a banking collapse, property busts can suppress growth for years.” Authorities acknowledged the picture is uneven.

Key Topics

Business, Chinese Economy, Trade Surplus, Us Tariffs, Housing Market, Donald Trump