Even before Donald Trump takes office on Monday, trade tensions between the world’s biggest economies are already heating up.

China’s economy grew more than expected in the last three months of 2024, official data showed on Friday, as it awaits the likely imposition of fresh tariffs by US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next week.

China's economy likely rebounded in the fourth quarter as several rounds of policy stimulus kicked in, enabling the government to largely meet its 2024 growth target, though the risk of new U.S. tariffs could hold back a broader recovery.

China has strengthened trade with Latin America at the expense of the U.S. But Donald Trump, who threatens to raise tariffs on Mexico, could upend those ties.

Thanks to the stimulus measures that buoyed economic activity in the fourth quarter, China says it met its 5% GDP growth target for 2024.

U.S. imports from China finished the year strong after some companies stockpiled shipments of apparel, toys, furniture and electronics ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose new tariffs that could revive a trade war between the world's economic superpowers.

China’s economy hit the government’s growth goal last year after an 11th hour stimulus blitz and export boom turbocharged activity, although looming US tariffs threaten to take away a key driver of expansion.