The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected the global economy, with many countries experiencing a recession due to lockdown measures, unemployment, and decreased spending. However, China has become the first major economy to return to growth since the beginning of the pandemic. On Thursday, China reported that its economy grew by 3.2% from 2019 in the second quarter, which was attributed to an aggressive but short campaign to eradicate the virus.
China’s second-quarter growth in the domestic product also represented an 11.5% rebound from the first three months of 2020 when lockdowns occurred across China. For the first six months of 2020, China’s economy contracted just 1.6% when compared with the first half of 2019. China experienced a historic 6.8% contraction within the first three months of 2020 as its major cities shut down completely due to COVID-19.
Read More: China Is First Major Economy to Return to Growth Since Coronavirus Pandemic