Economics
What to Really Look for in China's Record-Breaking GDP Report
- Economists predict GDP rose 18.5% in first quarter vs year ago
- Consumption, industrial production data also closely watched
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China is expected to report the highest quarterly economic growth ever since it began releasing such data 30 years ago, but that won’t give a true picture of the strength of the recovery.
The 18.5% year-on-year expansion predicted by a Bloomberg survey of economists is largely a mirror-image of the unprecedented decline in gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2020 caused by coronavirus control measures. Investors need to look beyond that number to assess the state of the Chinese economy’s post-pandemic recovery.