China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on January 18 that China’s 2020 GDP has exceeded 100 trillion yuan (US$14.7t) for the first time, 2.3 percent higher than that in 2019 based on comparable prices.
It is strong evidence that China is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which analysts attributed to the government’s powerful pandemic control and effective measures to promote economic recovery.
Data shows that China’s industrial enterprises with annual revenues of 20 million yuan (US$2.9m) or more from their main business made a combined net profit of 5.7 trillion yuan (US$0.8t) between January and November 2020, 2.4 percent more than in the same period of 2019.
Although China’s total retail sales of consumer goods in 2020 dropped by 3.9 percent compared to that in 2019, its 2020 consumption rate to GDP reached 54.3 percent, 0.9 percent higher than the average rate between 2011 and 2019, though still slightly lower than in 2019 alone.
Growth in exports and imports exceeded expectations, with total volume in 2020 hitting 32.2 trillion yuan (US$4.7t), 1.9 percent more than in 2019. Meanwhile, foreign currency reserves grew by US$108.6 billion in 2019.
China’s average annual per capita disposable income in 2020 reached 32,189 yuan (US$4,733.7), 2.1 percent more than that in 2019 after adjusting for inflation, with that in urban areas 43,834 yuan (US$6,446.2), 1.2 percent more than in 2019, and that in rural areas 17,131 yuan (US$2,519.3), 3.8 percent more than in 2019, after adjusting for inflation.