Coronavirus narrows China's GDP by 6.8% in Q1

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Chinese economy contracted by 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to official data revealed on Friday.

China faced with "severe test of coronavirus outbreak" in the first three months of 2020, however, the situation was brought under control and business/production activities accelerated in the country, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

"According to the preliminary estimates, the gross domestic product of China was 20.65 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) in the first quarter of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 6.8 percent at comparable prices," it noted.

The shrinking was more than expected, and the first decline since at least 1992 when official quarterly GDP records started.

During the January-March period, while industrial and services production, market sales, investments, foreign trade, unemployment and incomes per capita posted declines, while agricultural production was steady, the bureau said.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, the new coronavirus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world.

While the pandemic hit the global economy, China’s production-based economy was the one of the most affected due to slowdown in the world trade and lockdowns. Some 84,000 people infected in China and more than 4,600 persons died.

Worldwide, the pandemic has killed around 145,500 people and infected nearly 2.16 million, while more than 548,000 have recovered from the disease, according to figures collated by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.