The world’s second largest economy expanded by 2.3% in 2020 compared to a year earlier, according to government statistics released on Monday.
This is China’s slowest annual growth rate in decades – the country has experienced a worse year since 1976, when GDP shrank by 1.6% in a time of social and economic turmoil.
But during a year when a crippling pandemic plunged major world economies into a recession, China clearly came out on top. The expansion also beats expectations: the International Monetary Fund, for example, predicted that the Chinese economy would grow by 1.9% by 2020. It is the only major world economy that the IMF would expect to grow at all.
The pace of recovery is also accelerating. According to the government, the Chinese economy grew by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. This is faster than the growth of 4.9% in the third quarter.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.