The Chinese economy grew by almost 20 percent in the first quarter of 2021, showing that the country is recovering due to the economic toll the coronavirus pandemic has claimed the world.
According to official data released local time on Friday, the Chinese economy has grown by 18.3 percent since the first quarter of 2020. Reuters reported.
This is the largest growth since 1992 when China first started recording quarterly reports.
Growth in gross domestic product was slightly lower than economists said in a Reuters poll. These economists believed that China would have grown by 19 percent.
The growth in China’s economy comes amid tensions with the US over human rights and the South China Sea.
According to a Reuters poll, the Chinese economy is expected to grow by a total of 8.3 percent in 2021.
China’s economy – especially in the first quarter of last year – was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, while the economy went on strike to curb the virus.
There were more than 102,000 cases of coronavirus in China with more than 4,000 deaths; however, the accuracy of the numbers has been questioned.
China has the second largest economy in the world behind the US and, according to Reuters, was the only major economy that did not contract last year.