China GDP grows at record 18.3% as recovery speeds up

China GDP grows at record 18.3% as recovery speeds up  : BEIJING,  China’s economic recovery quickened sharply in the first quarter from a coronavirus-induced slump earlier last year, propelled by stronger demand at home and abroad and continued government support for smaller firms. Gross domestic product (GDP) jumped a record 18.3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, slower than the 19% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and following 6.5% growth in the fourth quarter last year.

While the reading is heavily skewed by the plunge in activity a year earlier, the increase is the strongest since at least 1992, when official quarterly records started.

Aided by strict virus containment measures and emergency relief for businesses, the economy has recovered steadily from a steep 6.8% slump in the first three months of 2020, when an outbreak of Covid-19 in the central city of Wuhan turned into a full blown epidemic.