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China’s economy has grown at a faster pace than before the coronavirus pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2020, official data showed, as industrial production continued to drive the country’s recovery.
Gross domestic product growth exceeded expectations to reach 6.5% in the last quarter of last year, according to figures released on Monday, with the economy growing 2.3% on the year, a stark contrast to the expected performance of other major economies.
The new data points to a rapid recovery in the world’s second-largest economy, which declined in early 2020 for the first time in more than four decades after the country was hit by the pandemic and authorities imposed a severe lockdown. In the fourth quarter of 2019, China grew 6%.
The ensuing recovery was fueled by higher industrial production, which benefited from state support and added 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 5.8 percent in the previous quarter. Retail sales, a measure of consumer appetite, lagged the industrial sector and added 4.6% in the fourth quarter.
Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the economy “has recovered steadily” over the past year, but added that “changing epidemic dynamics and the external environment pose a multitude of challenges. ‘uncertainties’.
The GDP figures, which beat expectations, came days after China posted its highest monthly trade surplus on record in December, fueled by three straight months of double-digit export growth. Exports rose 18 percent last month compared to the same period a year earlier.
The data adds to a series of other measures that reflect a booming Chinese economy. This month, the renminbi topped 6.5 against the US dollar for the first time since 2018, as the Chinese stock market hit its highest level since the global financial crisis.
The country’s return to growth last year drew a strong appetite from foreign investors, who injected around 1 billion rupees ($ 154 billion) into Chinese stocks and bonds through the investment programs of Hong Kong in 2020.
In China, new cases of Covid-19 slowed in mid-2020, but a recent outbreak in northern Hebei province sparked a new wave of social restrictions and lockdowns. Last week, the country reported its first coronavirus death since April.
Unemployment was 5.2 percent in December, unchanged from the previous month. Investment in fixed assets grew 2.9% year-round, while investment in real estate jumped 7%.
Additional reporting by Xinning Liu in Beijing
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