New Delhi (NVI): China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in more than four decades last year despite a rebound after the country’s coronavirus outbreak, official data showed.
The 2.3 percent expansion is the lowest figure since the Chinese economy embarked on major reforms in the 1970s.
The National Bureau of Statistics warned of a “grave and complex environment both at home and abroad,” with the coronavirus pandemic having a “huge impact.”
The figure was a marked slowdown from 2019 growth of 6.1 percent — itself already the lowest in decades — with the country hit by weak domestic demand and trade tensions.
However, in the last three months of 2020, China’s economic rebound continued with a better-than-expected 6.5 per cent growth on-year, a sustained improvement since the second quarter.
Covid-19, which has ravaged the world economy, first emerged in central China in late 2019. But the world’s second-largest economy also became the first to bounce back after imposing strict lockdowns and virus control measures.
Furthermore, it is expected to be the only major world economy clocking positive 2020 growth.
-CHK
