Chinese GDP: the economy grows by 2.3% in 2020 as the recovery accelerates

The world’s second-largest economy grew 2.3% in 2020 from a year earlier, according to government statistics released on Monday.

It’s China’s slowest annual growth rate in decades – the country hasn’t had a worst year since 1976, when GDP fell 1.6% during a period of social uproar and economical.

But in a year when a crippling pandemic plunged the world’s major economies into recession, China clearly came out on top. The expansion also exceeded expectations: the International Monetary Fund, for example, predicted that the Chinese economy would grow by 1.9% in 2020. It is the only major global economy that the IMF expected to grow.

The pace of recovery is also accelerating. The Chinese economy grew 6.5% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to the government. This is faster than the 4.9% growth recorded in the third quarter.

This is a developing story and will be updated.