BACK IN THE SADDLE
After a brief period of contraction due to novel coronavirus-triggered headwinds, China’s major economic indicators rebounded in March and are anticipated to see better performance in the second quarter.
As the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the data on China’s economic performance on April 17, indicating that the GDP growth rate declined by 6.8 percent year on year to around 20 trillion yuan ($2.8 trillion) in the first quarter (Q1), NBS spokesperson Mao Shengyong said with the fundamental industries resuming growth steadily, the economy still maintained overall stability in the period.
“The strict measures adopted early on for containing the epidemic led to sharp declines in manufacturing, investment and consumption activities in January-February, but work and production resumption in March helped drive up domestic demand,” Wen Bin, chief researcher with China Minsheng Bank, told Beijing Review.
Despite the impact of the epidemic, China’s economy still shows strong resilience with new growth momentum due to innovation-oriented growth drivers, Xu Hongcai, Deputy Director of the Economic Policy Commission, China Association of Policy. The epidemic, while causing offline industries to suspend work at its peak, gave a boost to new business and work modes, which meant a strong impetus for China’s digital economy. As people stayed at home, e-commerce, food delivery, online education and work-from-home platforms boomed; new technologies such as virtual reality rode the tide with wider applications.
