China’s economy grows 4.9% amid covid-19 pandemic
The Chinese economy has grown as much as 4.9% in the last quarter of 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged all countries of the world.
China expanded 4.9% in the July-to-September quarter compared to the same time frame in 2019, according to government statistics released Monday by the Chinese Ministry of Finance.
The growth is much significant than the 3.2% increase that China recorded in the second quarter, when it managed to avoid recession caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“China’s economy continued its rapid rebound last quarter, with the recovery broadening out and becoming less reliant on investment-led stimulus,” wrote Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist for Capital Economics, in a research note.
“What’s more, the monthly data show that growth was still accelerating heading into Q4,” Evans-Pritchard added.
The report also says China’s Industrial production grew 5.8% in the third quarter from a year ago much faster than the second quarter’s 4.4% uptick.
The service sector also expanded at a faster pace, up 4.3% this quarter compared with 1.9% in the April-to-June period.
Retail sales also went up to 0.9% in the third quarter from a year ago, with a 3.3% gain in September alone. And the unemployment dropped to 5.4% in September, compared to 5.6% in August.
“So far we can say consumption has already climbed out from the pandemic’s deep shock,” Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman for China’s National Bureau of Statistics said at a press conference in Beijing.
“The recovery is underway.”
She added that more people are “willing to come out from their homes and spend money in the physical shops” as the pandemic has been brought under control.
