Beijing, Oct 27 — China has almost completed the upward leg of a V-shaped recovery while most of other countries are trapped in economic recessions and climbing cases in a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, said a report by The Economist.
Citing China’s GDP figures of the third quarter this year – China’s economy expanded by 4.9 percent year on year – the report attributed the rebound to China’s capability of stamping out the virus and providing a favorable environment for the production to resume smoothly.
The latest figures show a more balanced recovery in China as compared to the early stage recovery mainly driven by factory production and investment.
In the third quarter, as infrastructural spending tailed off, the contribution to the GDP growth from capital formation fell to less than 3 percentage points, while consumption added nearly 2-percentage points. Although still below the pre-pandemic levels, its a big improvement from the pandemic’s peak.
China’s trade also recovers fast, with its share of global merchandise exports hitting a record high during the pandemic.
Data from the World Trade Organization shows that China’s foreign trade accounted for 12.6 percent of the global trade, up 1 percent from the same period last year. Both exports and imports hit a record high share in global trade.
China’s trade surplus with the U.S. stood at $30.75 billion in September, narrowing down from a surplus of $34.24 billion in August, according to China Customs.
For the first nine months of the year, the country’s trade surplus with the U.S. totaled $218.57 billion, customs data showed. By successfully restarting its economy, it became the world’s biggest producer of protective equipment, from masks to surgical gowns.
According to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University, confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 43.1 million globally, with over 1.1 million fatalities. The U.S. has registered over 225,000 deaths and more than 8.6 million infections – both the highest in the world.
“Until vaccines are rolled out, others will struggle to match China’s feat,” the report said.
