China: GDP surpassed expectations in Q4 - UOB

FXStreet reports that Ho Woei Chen, CFA, an economist at UOB Group, assesses the latest GDP figures in the Chinese economy.

“China’s GDP growth accelerated further to 6.5% y/y in 4Q20 from 4.9% y/y in 3Q20, above Bloomberg’s consensus poll and our forecast of 6.2%. The economy has fully recovered from the coronavirus pandemic with the pace of GDP rising above the level in the same quarter a year ago. The growth rates of the secondary and primary industries were above their pre-pandemic levels while tertiary industry growth has also returned to trend in 4Q20. On the seasonally-adjusted basis, GDP rebounded by 2.6% q/q from 3.0% in 3Q20 as the recovery momentum continued to be sustained."

“China’s full-year 2020 GDP growth came in at 2.3%, standing out as one of the few economies with positive growth amidst the pandemic. We have raised our forecast for 2021 GDP growth to 8.5% from the previous 8.2% in anticipation of stronger pent-up demand as vaccination programs worldwide get underway. This will also underpin a stronger recovery in the domestic private consumption this year."