A drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows cargo ships at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

　　BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Despite headwinds of rising protectionism, increasing signals point to a good start for China's economy for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, injecting much-needed certainty and confidence into the world.

　　The Chinese economic momentum is highlighted by domestic demand, industrial production and foreign trade, and driven by pro-growth policies, innovation, and structural adjustment.

　　The Chinese government has prioritized such tasks as boosting domestic demand, developing new quality productive forces, implementing landmark reform measures, and expanding high-standard opening up, for this year.

　　Foreign trade remains one of the bright spots for the largest developing country, whose Q1 goods trade volume hit a record high for the same period. Beating market expectations, China's exports in Q1 grew by 6.9 percent year on year. The resilience of foreign trade has been underpinned by its diversification of international markets and innovation-based competitiveness.

　　Other figures also attest to the steady recovery trend, especially the upward trajectory since the final quarter of last year. The purchasing managers' index of the manufacturing sector registered a one-year high in March and remained in expansion territory for the second consecutive month.

　　In the first two months of this year, industrial production, consumption, and investment growth rates surpassed last year's full-year figures. The domestic sales of excavators for major manufacturers grew by 28.5 percent in March year on year, reflecting the momentum in infrastructure investment.