China’s economy grew by almost 20% in the first quarter of 2021, showing the country’s rebound from the economic rate the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the world.
Official data released on Friday, local time, shows that the Chinese economy grew by 18.3% compared to the first quarter of 2020, Reuters reported.
This is the highest growth since 1992, when China began recording quarterly reports.
Gross domestic product growth was slightly lower than economists said in a Reuters poll. These economists believed that China would have grown by 19 percent.
The growth of the Chinese economy comes amid tensions with the United States over human rights and the South China Sea.
A Reuters poll showed that China’s economy is expected to grow 8.3% in total in 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic hit China’s economy hard, especially in the first quarter of last year, with the economy shutting down to contain the virus.
More than 102,000 cases of coronavirus were reported in China with more than 4,000 deaths; however, the accuracy of the numbers has been questioned.
China has the second largest economy in the world behind the United States and was the only major economy that did not contract last year, according to Reuters.