The Chinese economy picked up speed in Q4 2020 with GDP expanding by 6.5% year on year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. This beat the 6.1% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and followed the 4.9% recorded in the previous quarter.
The world’s second largest economy has surprised many with the speed of its recovery from the pandemic, considering that it also had to contend with the fallout from the US-China trade war. Beijing may have been slow to recognise the threat posed by the initial outbreak, but its draconian reaction thereafter enabled it to largely contain the Covid-19 outbreak relatively quickly. Government-led policy stimulus and local manufacturers’ efforts to step up production to supply goods to other countries crippled by the pandemic have also helped boost the momentum of the Chinese economy’s recovery,