18-01-2021
China's economy grew 2.3 percent in 2020 as a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic accelerated while the United States, Europe, and Japan struggled with disease flare-ups.
Growth in the three months ending in December 2020 rose to 6.5 percent over a year earlier, up from the previous quarters 4.9 percent, official data showed on January 18.
In early 2020, activity contracted by 6.8 percent in the first quarter as the ruling Communist Party took the then-unprecedented step of shutting down its economy to fight the virus. The following quarter, China became the first major country to grow again with a 3.2 percent expansion after the party declared victory over the virus in March and allowed factories, shops, and offices to reopen.
