China: GDP growth slowest in more than four decades
Official data released on Monday has showed that China’s GDP grew at the slowest pace in more than four decades in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic hit the world.Coronavirus, which has ravaged the world economy, first emerged in central China in 2019. But China also became the first country to bounce back after imposing strict lockdowns and virus control measures.The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said last year was a “grave and complex environment both at home and abroad” with the pandemic having a “huge impact”.The 2.3 per cent expansion in 2020 was a marked slowdown from 2019’s revised growth of 6.0 per cent — itself already the lowest in decades — with the country hit by weak domestic demand and trade tensions.In the last three months of 2020, China’s economic rebound continued...