China’s GDP grows 6.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2020 and exceeds expectations

FILE PHOTO: Workers wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak load steel products for export to a cargo ship at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China May 27, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) – China’s economic recovery beat analysts’ expectations in the fourth quarter of 2020, expanding 6.5% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth was higher than the 6.1% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and followed the 4.9% growth in the third quarter.

GDP grew 2.3% in 2020, the data showed, making China the only major economy in the world to avoid a contraction last year as many nations struggled to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world’s second-largest economy saw a strong recovery last year from coronavirus paralysis, driven by a surprisingly resilient export sector, but consumption, a key driver of growth, has lagged amid fears. of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. .

The large amount of encouraging economic data has reduced the need for further monetary easing this year, prompting the central bank to reduce some of its policy support, sources told Reuters, but there would be no abrupt change in direction. according to the main managers.

On a quarterly basis, GDP rose 2.6% in October-December, the bureau said, compared with expectations for a 3.2% increase and a revised 3.0 gain in the previous quarter.