China’s economy on way back up after heavy hit from Covid-19 pandemic

There are questions over the veracity of official data but China is likely to end the year with an even bigger economy than it had at the start. Economists at the International Monetary Fund are pencilling in annual growth of 1.9 per cent, which puts the country miles ahead of its rivals. The US, Germany and the UK are expected to shrink by 4.3 per cent, 6 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively. After relaxing their lockdowns over the summer, western rivals are struggling to protect their economies from a second wave of the virus. However, China deployed a severe lockdown and a robust testing regime to contain the virus the first time round. Although its economy shrank at a record pace at the beginning of the year, the subsequent recovery has not yet come under threat. At the same time growth has powered ahead thanks to a state-backed boom in new infrastructure projects, including roads and high-speed train lines. This has fuelled the strong rebound in industrial production, which beat economists’ forecasts to grow by 6.9 per cent in the year to September. This was up from 5.6 per cent in August.