China’s GDP grew in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic

People work inside a shipbuilding industrial park factory in a port in Nantong’s Qidong city, Jiangsu province, China March 16, 2020.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.3% in 2020, according to official data published today, which confirm that the Asian country’s economy withstood the COVID pandemic in a context of global economic contraction.

The figure is the lowest since 1976; However, if the forecasts are fulfilled at the world level, it would place China as one of the few world economies to register economic expansion and, especially, as the only one of the global powers to do so.

In the last quarter of the year, Chinese GDP rose 6.5% year-on-year, consolidating the path of recovery after the 6.8% collapse between January and March, the toughest months of the pandemic in the Asian giant, which were accompanied by weeks of economic paralysis after the lunar New Year.

After that, the economy rebounded 3.2% in the second quarter and 4.9% in the third.

“The national economy recovered steadily (?) And the main economic and social development goals were achieved even better than expected“Said the National Statistics Office (ONE) in a statement.

Employees work at a minivan assembly factory in Qingdao, China. EFE / YU FANGPING / Archive

The 2.3% advance also exceeds the expectations of international institutions, whose latest forecasts were around 2%.

In nominal terms, China’s total wealth last year amounted to 101.6 trillion yuan ($ 15.68 trillion, 12.98 trillion euros).

Other data such as retail sales were also released today, which fell by 3.9% year-on-year, something that for some analysts shows that the recovery in China has been driven by the supply side rather than the demand side.

Meanwhile, Industrial production increased by 2.8% in the overall year, investment in fixed assets grew by 2.9%, and the official urban unemployment rate remained at the same levels as in 2019, standing at 5.2 %.