HONG KONG: China's economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5 per cent from a year earlier as it largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war so far, according to data released Thursday.

The January-March data released by the government, covering a period during which the Iran war began, was better than what economists expected and was up from the 4.5 per cent growth seen in the October-December quarter.

Economists expect China to be able to weather short term impacts from the Iran war, now in its seventh week. The war is pushing energy prices higher, worsening inflation and impacting global economic growth. But longer term, areas including global demand for Chinese exports could take a hit.

The International Monetary Fund this week lowered its economic growth forecast for China to a 4.4 per cent expansion for 2026. Chinese leaders last month set an economic growth target of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent for this year, the slowest since 1991.