China dodges recession as world fears bloodbath: GDP expands by 3.2% in Q2, factory output rises sharply

China’s economy improved by 10 percentage points in a quarter, largely driven by the sharply rising factory output.

Even as most nations fear a major recession due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s economy skyrocketed in the second quarter of 2020. While India is likely to register a double-digit contraction in the June-quarter and Singapore recorded a GDP contraction of 41 per cent in Q2, the Chinese economy rebounded from a fall of 6.8 per cent in the March-quarter to an expansion of 3.2 per cent in the June quarter. This is an improvement of 10 percentage points in the country’s GDP growth in a quarter, which is largely driven by the sharply rising factory output.

After shrinking for the three months in a row till March 2020, the industrial production of China is on a constant rise. China’s industrial production rose by 4.8 per cent on-year in the month of June, after growing by 3.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent in April and May. The dragon has started producing electrical machinery, metal products, manufacturing equipment, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, etc at a higher volume than in recent months.

Also Read: World Bank sneaks into India’s past; shows parents’ jobs led to income, education divide in rural India

With lockdown across various nations and worldwide flooring demand, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the global economy to come to a standstill. The World Bank has warned that the pandemic has plunged the global economy into a deep recession of historic proportions, and the recovery outlook is grim, particularly for developing countries.

While it added that Russia’s 2020 GDP growth is projected to contract by 6 per cent, which is an 11-year low, it noted that the collapse in oil prices coupled with the pandemic is expected to plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe economic recession, which can be the worst since the 1980s. During these challenging times and pessimistic outlook, China seems to have an open field to boost its revenue and economic growth.