PRC economy up by 2.3% in 2020: NBS

25 Jan '21

2 min read

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The Chinese economy grew by 2.3 per cent last year, with major economic targets achieving better-than-expected results, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which recently said the country's annual gross domestic product (GDP) came in at 101.59 trillion yuan ($15.68 trillion) in 2020, surpassing the 100 trillion yuan threshold. China’s economy is expected to be the world's only major economy to achieve positive growth in 2020, said NBS head Ning Jizhe was quoted as saying by a Chinese newspaper.

China's annual GDP surpassed 100 trillion yuan for the first time in history last year, marking how its overall national strength has reached a new level, Ning said.

The country's GDP in 2020 is equivalent to about $14.7 trillion based on the annual average exchange rate, and accounts for about 17 percent of the world economy, he said.

Ning added that China's per capita GDP exceeded $10,000 for the second straight year in 2020, ranking among upper-middle income economies and further narrowing the gap with high-income economies. GDP growth in the fourth quarter was 6.5 per cent year on year (YoY), up from 4.9 per cent in the third quarter, the bureau said.

Industrial output expanded by 2.8 per cent YoY in 2020 and 7.3 per cent in December.

Growth in retail sales came in at minus 3.9 per cent year-on-year last year, but the growth recovered to positive 4.6 per cent in December. The country registered a 2.9 per cent growth in fixed-asset investment in 2020.

A total of 11.86 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas last year, 131.8 per cent of the annual target.

The surveyed urban jobless rate nationwide was 5.2 per cent in December and 5.6 per cent on average in the whole year, the bureau said.

Despite the improving economic indicators, NBS said that the economy faces mounting uncertainties from the COVID-19 and external environment, and the country will work hard to ensure that the economy continues to perform within the reasonable range.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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